The New York Knicks’ captain is going down with his ship, which is starting to tilt dangerously upright after Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Point guard Jalen Brunson offered an honest self-assessment after the Knicks were moved to within an inch of their ultimate demise on Tuesday night, as the Indiana Pacers’ 130-121 victory created a 3-1 deficit for the Manhattanites in the best-of-seven set.
“I’m not doing enough,” Brunson said, per Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “I could sit here and be very detail-oriented about certain things, but obviously not good enough. There has to be a difference on my part when it comes to that.”
On paper, it was hard to quarrel with Brunson’s box score, as he paced the Knicks with 31 points and hit all but one of his dozen free throw tries. If it were up to Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, he’d have even more opportunities for singles, as he lauded Brunson “taking charges and he’s getting called for blocks” in the Game 4 lead-in, per Braziller.But Brunson struggled to live up to his newly-minted billing of “Clutch Player of the Year” this time around.
He got off just three tries from the field off in the final period, hitting one after sitting out a good part of the Game 3 victory’s final act due to foul trouble (though he did put the Knicks ahead for good in the prior contest). The downright historic box scores from Indianapolis equivalent Tyrese Haliburton certainly aren’t helping, as critics will no doubt claim that Brunson is missing out on an opportunity to solidify his mark among the Association’s top backcourt men.
Indiana also continues to take advantage his developing defensive abilities, as the Knicks were minus-16 on the scoreboard when he was on the floor on Tuesday (second-worst on the team behind only Mitchell Robinson).
But, just as Brunson as readily backed his teammates in times of postseason distress, his fellow Manhattanites have not lost faith in their on-floor leader.
“We all have to be better for him. It’s not just him, it’s all of us,” center and fellow All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns said, per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. “He’s Cap. Of course, he’s going to speak with the highest regard. As a team we have to all do better. It’s not just him, it’s all of us. We all have to do a better job of making it more difficult for each one of them to score. Tonight we didn’t do that as a team, not just him. A team. If you write anything, write about the team.”
