Jalen Brunson has had an otherworldly slate of games lately for the New York Knicks. After a so-so start to the playoffs in New York’s first two games in their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers, Brunson has caught fire, and then some.
Following his strong close to New York’s first-round series win over Philadelphia, Brunson had yet another terrific outing in the Knicks’ Game 1 victory over the Indiana Pacers. To open New York’s Eastern Conference semifinals series versus Indiana, Brunson had 43 points, six rebounds and six assists, and he led the way once again down the stretch. Shortly after that performance, Donte DiVincenzo had the highest of praise for his teammate, who was also one of his running mates at Villanova in college ball.
As a former teammate of Brunson’s at Villanova and good friend as well, DiVincenzo knows what he is capable of, and the NBA is seeing that unfold before its very eyes.
This last one was Brunson’s fourth consecutive 40-point game in the playoffs, which was something that hasn’t been done since Michael Jordan in 1993, per StatMuse. Brunson has emerged as one of the top players in the NBA this season, and he’s really had it humming in the past handful of playoff games.
Now, there appeared to be some buzz this year regarding Brunson potentially being in the MVP conversation, but he wasn’t ultimately named as a finalist for the award.
Despite that, Brunson’s teammates and club know how valuable he is. Further, the aforementioned DiVincenzo emphasized how much he means to the Knicks above postgame, claiming how Brunson is “our MVP.”
Now, even DiVincenzo might not have known Brunson would become a superstar in the NBA, which he now is. Even without a league MVP finalist nod, Brunson has been ridiculously good so far in the playoffs.
Brunson had 21 fourth-quarter points to lead New York to a thrilling, but somewhat controversial Game 1 win, and in the first round, Brunson had 35.5 points, 9.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game across six outings. In addition, he had 41 points and 12 assists in New York’s Game 6 win to close out Philadelphia, for good measure.
With what he’s been showing in this postseason, it’s easy to understand why DiVincenzo and the Knicks have the utmost belief in Brunson.