Walt Frazier, Bernard King and Patrick Ewing. When it comes to New York Knick all-time greats, those three names tend to reign supreme. Jalen Brunson is making the case that he belongs among them.
Brunson is only in his second year as a Knick, but the historic nature of this postseason is placing him in some rarefied air. And Brunson’s performance on Tuesday night may have been his most impressive and important yet.
In perhaps the biggest game at Madison Square Garden in decades, Brunson led a depleted Knicks team to a critical 121-91 victory over the Pacers. With the win, New York now holds a 3-2 series lead as the rivalry shifts back to Indiana for Game 6 on Friday night. One more win and the Knicks are headed to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.
While being the star player on a Knicks team that advanced further than any other in almost a quarter of a century would be enough to shine light on Brunson in New York for a long time, the way he’s doing it is why he’s being compared to such legendary names.
Brunson scored 44 points in Game 5, giving him five 40-point games already this postseason. The last time any NBA player posted five or more 40-point games throughout a single postseason was when LeBron James did it in 2018.
Game Break 