How Jalen Brunson became the best playoff performer in the NBA

It was only a year and a half ago that coach Becky Hammon caught Knicks fans' ire for suggesting the team is missing a "1-A dude" required to win a championship. Just before the season, Iman Shumpert wrote off New York for lacking a player "that can go off himself in the playoffs," a sentiment backed by Alan Hahn, who thought their leader needed to become a "crunch time killer" to "complete his ascension."

This is only a sampling of the dismissiveness national talking heads have shown Jalen Brunson ever since he joined the Knicks in 2022 as a free agent to be their starting point guard. Oddly enough, none of this was heard following his 39-point, 12-assist masterclass in a Game 4, a potentially series-turning win over the defending champion Boston Celtics.

It’s unclear why it has taken some media members and die hard basketball fans so long to come around to the reality exposed by Brunson’s phenomenal performance, when he’s been doing this not-so-quietly for four years. Brunson’s stardom may have crescendoed with Monday’s upset, but the truth is, he’s been the league’s best playoff performer since long before then.

Let’s go through his recent postseason prowess...

Keen-eyed viewers caught onto Brunson’s big-game potential during the 2022 playoffs, when he scored 72 points in back-to-back wins without Luka Doncic to give his shorthanded Mavericks the early edge in a first-round series against the Donovan Mitchell-led Utah Jazz.

Dallas would advance behind a 27.8 points per game series from Brunson, and get as far as the Western Conference Finals in no small part due to his play. But it was going to the Knicks to lead the show when he really took off.

In a first round matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2023, Brunson stole Game 1 on the road with seven points in the final six minutes, including the game-sealing jumper with 35 seconds to play. He scored eight in the fourth quarter of Game 4, including a couple of pivotal threes, to help New York go up 3-1 and eventually win the series in five.

They faced the would-be finals runner-up in Miami the next round, falling in six games despite a heroic effort from Brunson. He averaged 31 points and over six assists on 50.4 percent shooting from the field and 34.7 percent shooting from three, winning Game 2 behind a 10-point fourth quarter and trying to salvage the series with a 32, 38 and 41-point games to close it out.

In his first postseason as full-time floor general, Brunson unseated a top-four seed in five games and was unguardable against an elite defense that walked through Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jayson Tatum the same year. Somehow, this didn’t move the needle beyond New York, so Brunson had to up himself the following year.

With a shorthanded team that only lost more players as the postseason continued, Brunson carried his squad past the reigning MVP Joel Embiid and his Philadelphia 76ers in Jordan-esque fashion last season. He put up 39 points and 13 assists in a Game 3 loss, led the Knicks to a 3-1 lead behind 47 points and 10 dimes in Game 4, dropped 40 in a Game 5 defeat, and ended the series in Game 6 with 41 points and 12 assists.

Going through each clutch shot or monster fourth quarter would be gratuitous. Brunson would break his hand as the Knicks lost Game 7 against the Indiana Pacers next series, but not before averaging 32 points and repeatedly delivering in crunch time once again, despite being every opponent’s sole focus.

Somehow, some folks were still not moved. Going into this year’s first round against the Detroit Pistons, many called Cade Cunningham the best player in the series, seemingly forgetting the entire last two Knicks runs.

Brunson would go on to average 32 points and eight assists in the series, which included a 15-point fourth quarter in Game 1, 12-point fourth quarters in Games 3 and 4, and an iconic game-winner off 40 points to advance in Game 6. This should have served as a stark reminder to the doubters, but they felt safe behind the daunting Celtics, who would surely embarrass the Knicks and expose Brunson in round two.

Not quite. Brunson was instrumental in New York’s crazy comebacks to take a 2-0 lead on the road, including goading Jrue Holiday into a shooting foul with 12 ticks left in Game 2, with him giving the Knicks the lead at the line.

Then Game 4 happened, finally catching the larger basketball world up to what Brunson’s been putting teams through these past few seasons. But to fully appreciate his impact, it needs to be taken in a historical context.

On Monday, Brunson became the highest scorer in fourth quarters through the first 10 games of a playoffs since 1997, eclipsing Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry. He’s only the fifth player in the last 50 years to average 30 and eight through the same span.

There have been a lot of "since Jordan" stats for him, too: First since Jordan to score 40 and dish five assists in two road closeout games, first since Jordan to start a playoffs with four consecutive 30-point games, and first since Jordan to score 40-plus in four consecutive playoff games.

That’s a lot of strong company for Brunson, who’s getting a minuscule fraction of the recognition for whatever reason. A part of that is the Knicks routinely being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs, a streak that could be coming to an end this year.

If it does, and truthfully, even if it doesn’t, the questions surrounding Brunson’s fitness to lead a team in the postseason need to end. Monday’s Game 4 may have been an awakening to some people, but for those who have been watching, it was another day at the office for the league’s toughest playoff threat.