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The New York Knicks spent decades searching for the player who could carry them back to the top of the NBA. On Saturday night, Jalen Brunson removed any remaining doubt that they had found him.
With Karl-Anthony Towns limited to two points and New York struggling offensively for much of the evening, the Knicks’ 6ft 2in floor general erupted for 45 points in a 94-90 victory over the Spurs that delivered the team’s first championship in 53 years and earned him Most Valuable Player honors.
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Related: Knicks beat Spurs to win their first NBA title since 1973 as brilliant Brunson shines again
The performance lifted Brunson into rare company. He became only the third player 6ft 3in or shorter to lead a championship team in scoring and win NBA finals MVP, joining Isiah Thomas and Stephen Curry. For years, conventional wisdom held that smaller guards needed a larger superstar beside them for a team to win basketball’s biggest prize. Brunson spent this postseason dismantling that notion one game at a time, never more than in Saturday’s pièce de résistance.
“That was unreal, just literally unreal,” Knicks center Mitchell Robinson said afterward. “I’m speechless. I’ve seen it a couple times here and there, but to do it in a closeout game against a good team like that, it’s different.”
Brunson averaged 32.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists in five games against San Antonio, but his teammates seemed almost as impressed by the manner in which he delivered the championship as the numbers themselves.
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“We owe him,” guard Landry Shamet said. “We weren’t great offensively tonight, but he is generationally great offensively.
“There’s really not a whole lot to say. We all saw it. He carried us in a lot of different ways. What he does, it’s not really a surprise to us anymore, being his teammate. But nights like tonight, you’ve got to look at it and really appreciate it.”
Knicks coach Mike Brown used the occasion to make a larger point about Brunson’s place among the league’s elite.
“I’ve said it, and I hope you guys will listen to me, but he’s a top-three MVP…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/him-indomitable-jalen-brunson-quiets-070037160.html
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Publish date : 2026-06-14 07:00:00
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