The point guard’s whole life has been in preparation for this team’s triumphant championship run
Time and again throughout these NBA playoffs, and especially during the championship round, we witnessed Knick point guard Jalen Brunson, the smallest player on the court, produce a miracle. At crunch time, often down by double digits in the score, he inevitably would exert his will and find a way to lead his team to victory. Sometimes it was through his shooting three-point bombs, at others he was attacking the basket, spinning through defenders to find some impossible angle off the glass. His determination and stoic unflappability were always the difference. The opponents would crack, and the Knicks, led by Brunson, somehow always rallied.
Brunson is not particularly fast. He’s generously listed at six feet two. He’s got hops but didn’t dunk once during the playoff run. His game is decidedly below the rim. He’s all skill. He creates space where there is none. He dives and darts, and then stops on a dime and hits a three. The difficulty of what he is able to achieve sometimes gets lost in the fact that he keeps doing the impossible.
During the finals, the Spurs tried to push Brunson around. They guarded him the length of the court. They handchecked, bumped, and pressed him. They sent different defenders, taller guards to try and get the Knicks captain out of rhythm. They knocked him down repeatedly. Brunson’s demeanor hardly ever changed. He adjusted. And when it mattered most, the Spurs simply could not stop him. In reflecting on their defeat, the Spurs’ seven-foot-four center Victor Wembanyama highlighted Brunson’s ability to control the game.
