The Knicks could’ve easily rolled over and punted Thursday night’s game.
They were just two days off of their NBA Cup clinching victory over the Spurs, and found themselves leaning on numerous reserves with three key pieces sitting out on the first night of a back-to-back.
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However, the captain refused to let them go down without a fight.
After trailing by as many as 16 points twice in the ballgame, New York was able to pull to within two when Mike Brown called a timeout with 11.4 seconds remaining in regulation.
At the time, Jalen Brunson had knocked down just one of his five shots and had a turnover during the fourth quarter.
Still, the reigning Clutch Player of the Year called his own number during that timeout.
“Mike drew up a play and allowed me to get right,” he said. “I asked if I could go for the win and he said sure — I work at it all the time, it’s a shot that I’m comfortable taking.”
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Brunson missed the same shot two possessions ago and had just taken a hard foul from Andrew Nembhard, but he looked more than comfortable as he took the inbounds pass and drilled a step-back dagger three with just 4.4 seconds left.
After the Pacers took a timeout to draw up a play of their own, OG Anunoby came up with a massive steal on the other end, helping the shorthanded squad somehow pull out a gutsy come-from-behind victory.
“Our MVP, the league’s MVP,” Brown said. “As Jalen’s walking onto the floor he turns to me and says, ‘I’m getting this win, I’m going for it.’ I said, ‘You do you, that’s who you are.’ Then he went out and came through — that’s what real MVP’s do.”
Brunson finished the night with 25 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.
