On a night when Brunson willed the shorthanded New York Knicks to victory, Haliburton seemed oddly detached from the action. Today we will discuss about Jalen Brunson had defenders LOST all night: Knicks Win 121-91.
Jalen Brunson had defenders LOST all night: Knicks Win 121-91
Jalen Brunson was back to his best on Tuesday as the New York Knicks dominated the Indiana Pacers 121-91 to take a 3-2 lead in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
A win on Friday night in Indianapolis will advance the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 24 years.
After losing Game 4 by 32 points, it was a strong response from the Knicks, with Brunson scoring 44 points with seven assists and four rebounds.
“He’s willing to share everything with his teammates and to me that’s the best part of him,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said.
“His game is great, but who he is as a teammate, as a leader, it makes us who we are. Big shots after big shots.”
The Knicks destroyed Indiana on the boards, led by Isaiah Hartenstein with 17 rebounds (12 offensive), while Josh Hart had 11 rebounds (nine defensive).
Brunson’s impact in the last two games of the series was limited, with concerns that his heavy workload and foot injury might have slowed him down.
But there was no sign of fatigue as he reached the 40 mark for the fifth time this season.
Brunson, who had only 18 points in Sunday’s loss, shot 18 of 35 from the field and had 28 points in the first half – a playoff record for the Knicks.
It was his seven consecutive points, including a three-pointer for a 20-point lead at 106–86, that ensured the victory.
“I just love that there are never any excuses from him. He’s never talking about injuries,” Thibodeau said.
“A lot of times when you hear people talk about their injuries, most of them are excuses and you never get that from them.”
The Pacers started strong and led 25–20, before the Knicks went on an 11–0 run to end the first quarter 38–32. The score was 69-54 at halftime and New York was in no mood to let the lead slip.
Thibodeau said he expects his team to respond to the blowout loss.
He has shown throughout the year that he is like that. We still need one more win, so we can’t do that!
Knicks Win 121-91
Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 22 points.
– ‘Still frustrated’ –
In the West, the Denver Nuggets made it three consecutive wins in their semifinal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, with Nikola Jokic leading the defending champions with 40 points.
After falling behind 2-0 in the series, Denver is now just one win away from returning to the Western Conference Finals.
Jalen Brunson had defenders LOST all night: Knicks Win 121-91
Jokic was presented with the Most Valuable Player of the Year award – the third of his career – before the game, then immediately provided another reminder of his value.
Denver led 50–44 at halftime, with Jokic scoring 19 points. Then, after the Wolves went on an 11–3 run early in the third quarter, Jokic scored another 16 to extend the Nuggets’ lead to 88–74.
Denver was able to keep Anthony Edwards quiet, limiting the Timberwolves star to 18 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
The 22-year-old scored 44 points in Sunday’s Game Four loss.
But after the shock of losing the opening two games of the series, Jokic knows a tough test awaits him on Thursday in Minnesota.
“Our backs are still against the wall and we don’t want to leave. We’re still frustrated, and we still want to win, and we’re going to Minnesota to get it,” he said.
Denver head coach Michael Malone was pleased with the way his team handled the threat from Edwards.
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said, “We knew we had to do something different with Anthony Edwards, he’s just a one-man team.”
“We trapped him, we double-teamed him, took off behind him and that takes a lot of hard work and our guys are committed to it and that was a big part of the win,” he said.
