NEW YORK — As he sat on the podium, his left hand and wrist immobilized after struggling a fracture in a season-ending 130-109 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Recreation 7 at Madison Sq. Backyard on Sunday, New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson was requested if this season was successful.
“No,” he mentioned, flatly.
Requested later why that was the case, he responded, “Did we win the championship? Did we get shut?”
After a pause, he continued, “So, no. That is my mindset.
“That is simply how it’s.”
That might additionally apply to Brunson’s damage, which occurred within the third quarter when, he mentioned, he swiped down at Tyrese Haliburton and felt one thing in his hand.
After a quick journey to the locker room, Brunson returned to the court docket for 14 seconds earlier than checking again out with 3:02 to go within the third quarter and heading to the locker room for what would change into the remainder of each the sport and New York’s season.
“I believed I simply jammed it, to be sincere with you,” Brunson mentioned of briefly checking again into the sport, solely to go away once more. “I appeared down and knew one thing was fallacious.”
For Brunson, it was a irritating finish — on each a private and staff stage — to what was a superb season, one which included him ending fifth within the NBA’s Most Priceless Participant voting earlier this month. He completed with a median of 32.4 factors throughout his 13 playoff video games — second solely to Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, whom he vanquished within the first spherical.
However after coping with a foot damage earlier on this sequence, Brunson and the Knicks fell brief in opposition to an Indiana staff that set an NBA report for a playoff recreation by capturing 67.1% from the sector in Recreation 7, per ESPN’s Stats & Data analysis.
“I’d say there’s execs and cons to how I performed,” Brunson mentioned in evaluating his season. “The professionals, clearly, are I performed nicely individually at some factors within the playoffs. The cons are that I did not play nicely sufficient to assist my staff transfer ahead.
“You may say I bought harm in Recreation 7, I wasn’t enjoying nicely in Recreation 7. We had a 2-0 and a 3-2 lead, it is simply onerous to have a look at issues individually when you do not assist your staff.”
Brunson, who is never keen to broaden on a lot on the microphone, maintained that strategy after this recreation. When requested about the potential for signing an extension with New York this summer time — he’s eligible to ink a four-year, $156.5 million cope with the Knicks in July — Brunson lower off the query earlier than it may very well be completed, saying, “I am going to speak about that one other time.”
When requested in regards to the ceiling of a wholesome Knicks staff — by the tip of Recreation 7, New York was lacking Brunson, Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic — he mentioned, “We’ll speak about that subsequent yr.” Nevertheless, when requested in regards to the trajectory of the staff, he admitted, “I believe we’re making constructive strides. We simply must make extra.”
However, in typical trend, he mentioned he is not happy together with his personal recreation, even after what simply was one of the best season of his profession. To that finish, Brunson mentioned he will likely be singularly targeted on bettering when he is in a position to get into the gymnasium this summer time. at any time when his fractured capturing hand heals.
“I’m going into the summer time yearly trying again on how I may very well be higher as a participant, to be probably the most full participant I may be,” Brunson mentioned. “There’s clearly going to be a number of issues, X’s and O’s-wise, bodily and different stuff I may do to be higher. I believe an important factor that I must do is to proceed to simply try for perfection, simply try for perfection, and realizing that I am by no means going to get there.
“Simply, my thoughts says I simply have to be higher each single day. I do not care what I’ve completed as a participant, it means nothing. … I am going to enter this summer time coaching to be higher.”
