The Hero's Journey

When we least expected it, Jalen Brunson penned a new script for his Knicks.

Good morning. Did you catch your breath yet?

Before we get to today’s newsletter, I’d like to first acknowledge the passing of Basketball Hall of Famer and New York Knick legend Dr. Richard “Dick” Barnett. Dr. Barnett was a franchise pillar and an instrumental force during the championship years, and as such, his passing deserves its own space in this newsletter. I’ll have much more on his life and legacy tomorrow, but for now, I’d like to send my thoughts and prayers to his family and all who knew him.

Game 4: Knicks 94, Pistons 93

• The Knicks shot out of the gate, making 4-of-5 from deep and turning Detroit over at will en route to a 24-12 lead.

• New York threatened to blow the game open a few times but lost the range from deep and came up empty on several fast break opportunities.

• An 11-2 run in the final two minutes of the half cut the lead to seven.

• Basketball gave way to rugby in the third quarter as the Knicks struggled to finish through contact and failed to kick out on drives.

• Dennis Schroder landed awkwardly on Jalen Brunson’s lower leg as he was going for a backcourt steal with 2:54 remaining in the third. Brunson hobbled to the locker room after dragging himself to the sideline following the play.

• Detroit’s lead ballooned to 10 without Jalen, who checked back in with 10:14 to go.

• Behind the best fourth quarter of Brunson’s career and some massive shots from Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges, the Knicks closed the game on a 26-14 run.

• Tim Hardaway Jr had a chance to win it as time expired, but the refs didn’t call a questionable potential foul on Josh Hart (who himself may have been fouled on the same play) on Timmy’s 3-point attempt.

Playoff basketball.

Two words that can raise the blood pressure of even the most measured soul.

You hear those words and get instantly transported back to those moments that stay with us forever. Moments when you’ve lived on the edge of your seat for weeks on end. When logic goes into hiding, fearful of getting in the way of this freight train of emotion. Sports aren’t life and death? It’s a hard sell this time of year.

Stasis does not exist when the calendar flips to the second half of April. In that sense, the postseason is an organism more than an event. It is always changing, learning and adapting. Not only does each series take on a life of its own, but the participants therein can emerge as different brings from the ones who went in.

That was the hope, at least, with this group - a team overflowing with promise but burdened by the weight of their own inconsistency. Was it too late for them to grow? If not, what would be the inciting event?

Which brings us the best part of the playoffs…the thing that gives it life more than everything else put together…

Always expect the unexpected.

We didn’t realize it beforehand, but yesterday’s game was the defining event in the life cycle of the 2024-25 New York Knicks.

Despite accumulating 51 regular season wins, they came into this series as a team filled with uncertainties, and despite coming out on top in two of the first three games, no one knew quite what to expect on Sunday afternoon.

Would they remain true to form and underperform their prodigious talent? Would they settle for the split and cede the intensity edge to the younger team at home? Would they lean into the bad habits that resulted in a Game 2 loss?

Or would they surprise all of us and finally be the team we optimistically envisioned back in training camp?

Through the first 40 or so minutes, we didn’t get an answer because we got every answer. For 22 minutes, they played exactly as you’d hope a serious contender would, showing near impeccable process on both ends but failing to run away with the game thanks to wide open misses from deep and blown opportunities on the break. Still, a 48-32 lead looked formidable.

Right up until it wasn’t.

Over the next 16 minutes, the Knicks entered the same Twilight Zone they never seemed to stray too far away from over the first 85 games. A 16-point lead became a 10-point deficit as they were outpaced 42-16, scoring but a point a minute in that time. They were flummoxed by Detroit’s physicality, allowing the Pistons to look like the team of seasoned vets as New York played the role of postseason newbies. It was a truly staggering display of offensive ineptitude at the worst possible time.

With Jalen Brunson having left the game late in the third quarter with an ankle injury that initially prevented him from walking off the court on his own power…

…there was no discernible reason to believe things would turn around. This game would be viewed as the bastard child of bad habits and missed opportunities. Forget growth. This team was exactly who we thought they were all along.

Right up until they weren’t.

As soon as Brunson - somehow back and moving about without the assistance of crutches - converted consecutive drives shortly after he checked in with 10:14 to go, we knew something might be up even as the Pistons increased their lead to 11 in the first few minutes following his re-entry. After a Beasley triple made it 79-68 with 8:35 to go, there was just enough time remaining for an honest to goodness run. Brunson looked sprier than he had any right to be. The Pistons, meanwhile, were no stranger to frittered fourth quarter leads. There was a dimly lit path in front of them, if they could just put together their best eight minutes of the season when it mattered most.

The first round teetered in the balance. Fail to make an all-time comeback, and the series would continue to devolve into something no Knick fan wanted - one with all the makings of a classic between the old guard and the new. A contrast in play styles that would leave one team questioning its very existence. We couldn’t run from it anymore. The entire Leon Rose project was suddenly on shaky ground.

But come back and win? That could change everything. It would be a chance to get some rest by grabbing a Game 5 victory, and with it, the steely resolve that comes with knowing you can take a punch and emerge better off for it. It would require not only near perfection, but probably a little bit of luck.

As a wise Detroit native once said, if you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it, or just let it slip?

The Knicks gave us their answer loud and clear.

Over the remainder of the game, New York outscored Detroit 26-14. They converted 10 of the 14 field goals they attempted. They forced three Piston turnovers. They held Cade Cunningham to 1-of-5 shooting. They were as close to perfect as anyone could reasonably have expected.

And yeah, they may have gotten a little lucky.

Here’s the thing about luck though: it doesn’t matter unless you put yourself in position to take advantage.

To do that, the Knicks needed to mutate from a normal basketball team into something else entirely. The playoffs, after all, are not a time for mere mortals. The postseason is epic because it is the hero’s journey. Come up big enough, and it won’t be the series that takes on a life of its own but the legend of the ones who define it.

In the final 10 minutes of this game, Jalen Brunson nearly outscored the Pistons by himself. His 15 points came on 7-of-11 shooting. He also assisted on two of the biggest threes of the game and did not commit a turnover.

Were there other heroes in Game 4? Oh yeah. Neither of the two shots that will be replayed for decades came off of Brunson’s fingertips, nor was he responsible for either of the triples that kicked the comeback into high gear.

But amongst all the determining factors that define teams at this time of year, there is one that rises above all others: you either have a guy like Jalen Brunson, or you don’t.

For year - decades, even - New York always seemed to be on the wrong side of that fence. Not anymore. In the defining event of the lifespan of these Knicks, it was Brunson’s hands on the steering wheel.

Eight minutes to rewrite a narrative.

Eight minutes to redemption.

Eight minutes to glory.

They passed the test - their biggest test - with flying colors as only they could. Their stars shone, their resolve remained, and as the moment grew larger, their stature kept rising.

It was the game we’ve been waiting six months to see. Jalen Brunson made it possible, but the moment was only a moment because everyone else did their part.

Playoff basketball.

Nothing else quite like it.

💫 Stars of the Game 💫

⭐️ Karl Anthony Towns

⭐️ ⭐️ Mikal Bridges

Evan Fournier could never.

Why does Bridges, who ended this game 3-of-12 from the field, get second billing after the hero of the hour? It was a tight call between him, KAT and Josh Hart, who once again did everything his skill set allows to help New York get the victory. Hart not getting one of these stars feels incredibly wrong, but there are only three spots, and difficult choices need to be made.

As just one example of what made this choice so brutal, watch this play to knock the ball loose with under 40 seconds to go…

…and then consider he made at least a dozen heady, effort plays to help New York get this win. Oh, and making 3-of-5 from deep didn’t hurt either.

In the end, I was swayed by the moment and the massive shots that put them over the edge.

I went with Bridges over Towns by a hair. Mikal played 44 minutes of fairly impeccable defense - the level of defense the front office expected when they made the trade. Yes, his missed triples in the first half went a long way in the Knicks not being able to blow this game open, but he wasn’t the only culprit there. Most importantly, he never let go of the rope on either end, notching a block and three steals (including two in the fourth quarter) and trusted his shot until the very end, resulting in two humongous threes to cut the lead to eight and then three midway through the final period.

KAT? This was far from his best night right up until the final three minutes, when he scored the biggest eight points of his Knicks career. Should those shots be enough to put him above Hart in this space?

I mean, shit…

…would you look him in the eye and tell him this bucket and the game-winning three that followed it weren’t good enough to make up for a so-so effort overall?

Me neither.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Jalen Brunson: Updated tally…

• Brunson 30 & 10 games as a Knick in the postseason: 5

• 30 & 10 postseason games for every other player in franchise history: 3¹

He is slowly but surely building up one of the most impressive postseason resumes in modern NBA history. In 28 postseason games as a Knick, Brunson is averaging 31 & 7 while playing over 40 minutes a night. They’ve come away victorious in 16 of those 27 games, and he’s on the cusp of putting his team in the second round for the third consecutive season.

As someone who has taken on the awesome responsibility of trying to put this man’s exploits into words, the best compliment I can give him is that he makes me wish there was some secret dictionary available on the black market - one that’s filled with words not used in common parlance. Words that I can access when the regular ones just don’t do him justice. Words befitting of his greatness.

In the absence of that, I’ll simply say that Brunson makes me believe that anything is possible. He had a goal as a child and he works tirelessly each and every day to achieve that goal. It’s the sort of thing I can only hope to imbue in my own children.

Of course, he’ll never reach that goal, because for Jalen Brunson, the goal posts are always moving. He will never get “there” because the existence of “there” implies he can’t get even better, and we know better to put any cap on his greatness.

For Jalen, the best is always yet to come.

Final Thought

While you were reading this newsletter, JB Bickerstaff just used another challenge.

🏀

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

1. Frazier had two, Patrick had one.