NEW YORK — At this point, declaring the excellence of Jalen Brunson is redundant. The words to describe another clutch performance, after another offensive explosion, tend to lose their impact because of repetition.
In Tuesday’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, Brunson did it again. As has become the norm since becoming Gotham’s knight, Brunson protected New York when the Knicks needed saving, leading the Knicks to a 115-104 overtime win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s become equally predictable as it is mesmerizing.
What else is there to say about Jalen Brunson?
Inside his home, scattered across a table, is the 7,500-piece LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon. It’s a project Brunson has tinkered with since arriving in New York in 2022, before people knew he’d be the savior of a franchise in despair. It’s a way to pass the time between being a father, husband and snatcher of souls.
It’s only a quarter of the way done, though. He might get to it again one day. Or not. He’s busy right now.
“Maybe I’ll pay someone to do it,” Brunson laughingly told The Athletic at his locker Tuesday night.
By night, Brunson has no such trouble closing on the seemingly impossible. What Brunson did in Game 1 against the Cavaliers was another day at the office, only this time it came with enhanced dramatics only meant for Broadway. A week from now, it might be considered the artist’s greatest work yet.
The Knicks were getting a shellacking on their home court, down 22 with seven minutes and 45 seconds remaining. The groans from the faithful in attendance felt like a collective belief that the most anticipated season in recent franchise history was alarmingly and suddenly in jeopardy. Getting blown out at home in Game 1 threatened to erase all of the momentum the Knicks built, all of their dominance up to this point. The pending loss felt like the team’s NBA Finals drought could stretch into season 26.
Then Brunson grabbed his cape.
We still don’t know if he has just one or he rotates several, but over the final 7:45 of regulation, he swooped in and caught the Knicks before they crashed. Brunson scored 15 of his game-high 38 points to force overtime. With Madison Square Garden in a frenzy, the Knicks continued their surge in the extra frame to seal the win and undo all of what Cleveland had gotten right in the second half. Brunson, the reigning Clutch Player of the Year, the small man who has never seen a task too tall, pumped belief back into The Mecca with each dribble, shot and pass despite the chaos surrounding him.
“Obviously, we don’t get it done if Jalen Brunson doesn’t play like one of the MVP guys in the league,” New York coach Mike Brown said. “He was phenomenal. He did what he was supposed to do tonight. It definitely helped us get the win.”
It’s nothing new. Brunson has etched his name among the legends of Knicks basketball with volumes worth of jaw-dropping performances at just the right time. It’s become cliche.
What else is there to say about Jalen Brunson?
Before every game, just as the lights inside the sport’s most majestic theatre dim, Brunson and a Knicks trainer do a handshake that ends with a raised finger to the sky — paying homage to his favorite wrestler, Roman Reigns.
“Before every game, we acknowledge him,” Brunson said last month.
Cavaliers guard James Harden has to acknowledge that his time as the sport’s premier, left-handed scoring guard has come and gone, and Brunson is now, as Reigns would say, at the head of the table. Brunson made Harden look his age in those final seven minutes by relentlessly attacking the future Hall of Famer, who walked so he could run.
Crossover … blow by.
Crossover … jumper.
Crossover … foul.
Harden couldn’t do anything with Brunson, just like for much of the last decade opponents couldn’t do anything with Harden. When he had the ball, dribbling rhythmically, staring into the soul of the defender, Harden showed no mercy. Brunson honored his predecessor in isolation brilliance by doing the same thing.
The torch wasn’t passed by Harden. It was snatched by Brunson.
Brunson is setting out to do what Harden has never been able to, which is win an NBA championship. One of them will have the opportunity to do so this season. It’s just one game, but one game matters at this stage. Cleveland had a win in hand, and it slipped. That’s not coming back.
“This team’s relentless,” Knicks guard Miles McBride said. “You never know whose night it’s gonna be, but we’re going to figure it out.”
James Harden couldn’t do anything with Jalen Brunson in Game 1 on Tuesday night. (Brad Penner / Imagn Images)
What else is there to say about Jalen Brunson?
How about this: He loves “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
Yes, the man who is considered one of the NBA’s best scorers, the man who routinely and viciously rips opportunities away from opponents, can get lost in the adventures with Patrick. The man whose competitive edge and scoring streak is from the same cloth as someone who went by the nickname “Black Mamba” would like to taste a Krabby Patty.
“I’m pretty sure he’s seen and knows every episode by heart,” a Brunson confidant said.
He made the Cavaliers wish they lived in a pineapple under the sea.
Everything Brunson put up went in. It was his shot with 19 seconds left that tied the game and made it feel like New York was really going to do this thing.
In last year’s East finals, the Indiana Pacers came into Madison Square Garden and overcame a 14-point deficit in two minutes and 36 seconds to steal Game 1. The Pacers’ Aaron Nesmith and Tyrese Haliburton stunned New York and the rest of the basketball world with a barrage of 3s and a shot that touched the heavens before dropping into the basket to force overtime, where the Pacers pulled it out.
It felt like destiny had chosen Indiana. But the way the Knicks stormed back Tuesday, the way Brunson entered the flow state at the perfect time, felt as though destiny is settling its debt with New York. Fate now favors the team it once punished.
Or maybe it isn’t fate. Maybe it isn’t luck. Maybe it’s just Brunson being Brunson and the rest following their leader. Though no less riveting, Tuesday night lacked novelty. It was a scene so common as to be expected by Knicks fans everywhere, watching their team wet the bed and pining for Brunson to go find a phone booth. Of course he did.
After four years, numerous playoff games and countless heart-stopping performances, this is expected of Brunson. There are no words left to describe this player and what he’s meant to this franchise because these monumental scoring binges leave you speechless and they’ve all been said before about this franchise cornerstone.
What else is there to say about Jalen Brunson?
Before every game, Brunson listens to Justin Bieber, a superstition that started when he was at Villanova.
“Did we really come this far just to watch it go down the drain? Yeah, sometimes the heart can see what’s invisible to the eye. All you gotta do is listen to your deepest feelings. They don’t ever lie. Well, giving up is immature. There’s so much more to live for. They don’t wanna see us together now.”
That’s what Bieber sang on “Trust,” off of Brunson’s favorite albums of his.
How fitting.