The Knicks no longer live and die on every Jalen Brunson miss: ‘No. 11 can’t be messed with’

Jalen Brunson didn’t play his best game.

It was Game 4 of the 2025 Eastern Conference finals against the Indiana Pacers, and Brunson torched the defense for 31 points on 9 of 19 from the field. But the Knicks lost by nine and fell into a 3-1 series deficit. A common theme in those three Knicks losses: The Pacers frequently dragged Brunson into isolation situations by forcing the switch onto Tyrese Haliburton, who finished with 32 points – and the victory.

It was the question of the evening, one Brunson took on the chin – “I’m not doing enough,” he said, before Karl-Anthony Towns adamantly interjected: “We all have to be better for him. It’s not just him, it’s all of us.”

The two rose from their seats at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Towns first, Brunson second. On the way out, Brunson tapped Towns on the shoulder, a gesture of gratitude for having his back.

He did it again Friday, but this time, the Knicks won.

Once again, Brunson didn’t play his best game, and once again, the question was about his shortcomings: He scored 20 points but shot 7 of 25 from the field, turned the ball over four times, struggled against the San Antonio Spurs’ pressure defense and missed a free throw on the Knicks’ final offensive possession that put Victor Wembanyama in position to win the game with a 2 instead of sending it to overtime.

These Knicks, however, are different from last year’s squad. They’re more close-knit. More connected. More in tune with one another while tuning out the outside noise. And Brunson recorded five steals. He made a go-ahead free throw. He also made a 13-foot fadeaway over Julian Champagnie to tie the game at 104.

Towns interjected once again.

“For J.B., you call it rough shooting nights. I see him hitting the free throw to give us the game, get Mitch (Robinson) a chance to get the stop for us to win the game. The last game, he hit some of the craziest shots I’ve seen to give us the game,” he said. “So, I don’t know if you say a rough shooting night. I see Captain Clutch doing what he’s always been doing since I got here. He’s a huge part when it comes down to the actual game, to winning the game.

“No. 11 can’t be messed with.”

• • •

Towns spoke for Brunson two questions in a row.

The premise of the first has defined each of the duo’s two seasons together. Last season, the Knicks earned a reputation as the team that would never die: They came back from consecutive 20-point deficits to stun the Boston Celtics in the second round of the playoffs. Then they came back from down 22 to avoid a 3-0 series deficit in Game 3 of the conference finals against the Indiana Pacers.

This season, they did it again: The Knicks came back from down 22 in Game 1 of the conference finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Then they overcame consecutive double-digit deficits to take a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Spurs in the NBA Finals.

No team in basketball has been quite as resilient as these Knicks. But where does that resilience come from? Where does this cast of 15 players, first-year head coach Mike Brown, and a stacked coaching staff draw its never-die mentality?

“Each other,” Brunson said plainly, before Towns spoke on his captain’s behalf:

“This team leans on each other. I think that’s why we’ve gotten here,” he said. “That’s why we had the success we had during the regular season, even when things weren’t going great – because at the end of the day, when things do get tough, and the trials and tribulations do present themselves, this team doesn’t disband. We don’t go away from each other. We lean into each other even more. We trust each other even more to get out of the rut. That’s what special teams do.”

The Knicks are special. Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals made it 13 straight victories, now in sole possession of the second-longest playoff winning streak in NBA history behind only the Stephen Curry-Kevin Durant Golden State Warriors of 2017. The Knicks have outscored their opponents by 273 points over the life of the streak – including elimination-game victories with margins of 51, 30 and 37 points. They have sapped the life, the joy out of every opponent they’ve buzz-sawed through since April 23. And with their next two games looming at Madison Square Garden, they have a chance to do it once again, this time to cement themselves in basketball lore as the best team in Knicks history.

“Our guys just kept fighting. They kept fighting, and the one thing I told them: You work on connectivity throughout the course of the year for moments like these,” said Mike Brown. “No matter what run they went on, no matter what time of the game, our guys just kept uplifting one another – not just the guys on the floor, but the guys on the bench. They just kept uplifting one another throughout the course of San Antonio’s runs. So that connectivity that we started with, had during the season and continue to have now, paid huge dividends for our group.”

• • •

Mikal Bridges is fired up, the emotion pouring through the pores in his face in his postgame interview. Sure, Brunson struggled. He didn’t shoot the ball particularly well in Game 1, either. That’s why the front office traded Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo for Towns. It’s also why they traded one, two, three, four, five first-round picks (and a pick swap) for Bridges two summers ago.

Those moves are why the Knicks are two games away from hanging a banner – not an NBA Cup banner, but a real championship banner from the Garden rafters. Towns scored a team-high 21 points on 12 shots. Bridges added 20 on 8 of 13 from the field and 4 of 6 from 3-point range to go with six rebounds and six assists on the night.

The defense has been even more noteworthy. De’Aaron Fox is 0 of 4 when guarded by Bridges, who’s also held Stephon Castle to 1 of 7 from the field through the first two games of the NBA Finals. The pair has combined for more turnovers (five) than assists (four) while guarded by New York’s point-of-attack defender.

“My teammates, man. My teammates and coaches gave me confidence,” Bridges said in his walk-off interview with MSG Network. “But I had a bad fourth. I’ve gotta be better. I’ve gotta play hard all throughout the fourth quarter, even when I’m tired, I’ve gotta keep going. I can’t have a fourth quarter like that.”

If the Knicks are going to complete an unfathomable NBA Finals sweep of the San Antonio Spurs, of the 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama, they will need to play better than they have in Games 1 and 2. The Spurs (with an assist from the officials) outscored the Knicks 29-21 in the final period and, had it not been for an all-time blunder – Wembanyama threw a game-swinging clutch possession off of Stephon Castle’s back – they may have been coming back to MSG tied at one apiece instead of up 2-0.

“Just gut. Just fight. A lot of integrity, poise, staying together. We’re gonna fight to the end. They made a run. They’re a really good team, but we’re gonna fight to the end,” said Bridges. “I wish we had a better fourth quarter. They’re a really good team. They pushed it, but we’ve gotta be better.”

That’s part of the magic surrounding this Knicks team. They are never too high, never too low, always even-keeled in the face of victory or defeat, no scene more telling than Towns lifting weights – single-legged dumbbell Romanian deadlifts to be exact – in the hallway outside of the Frost Bank Center’s visiting locker room just minutes after the final buzzer.

So what if Brunson had a poor shooting night? So what if he’s had two poor shooting nights? This team is resilient. This team is connected. These Knicks embody all the traits of a true NBA champion. And now, they’re two wins away from calling themselves just that: champions.

And champions never quit.

“It’s an amazing feeling as a coach to know how mentally tough your team is no matter what the situation is in front of them,” said Brown. “To see them continue to fight and fight and fight and fight, no matter what the score is, no matter how much time is on the clock, it’s just a fantastic feeling. The NBA is tough. You don’t experience what I’m experiencing with this group a ton, and it is a freaking joy to be around.”