Three takeaways from Knicks' Game 6 victory over Pistons
When all else fails, find Brunson
You didn't need this series to prove this, but when the game is on the line, when all else is failing, the Knicks know they have the Clutch Player of the Year on their team and Jalen Brunson will deliver.
On Thursday, it was the tiebreaking three-point field goal with 4.3 seconds left that gave the Knicks a 116-113 win over the Pistons in Game 6 to put the first-round series away and cap a magnificent 40-point effort. But really, it has become almost an every-night occurrence, with the Knicks working to get close enough for the 6-2 point guard to finish the task — and he usually does.
“I stay poised and I rely on the trust and composure that my teammates give me,” Brunson said. “I wound’t be in this position without the man next to me [Mikal Bridges], the way he played tonight, and obviously everyone is going to say a lot about the last shot. But throughout the game, the ups and downs, we all stayed composed, and the way he played was just tremendous. So got to give a lot of credit to my teammates. None of this happens without them.”
The wings were flying just in time
Bridges delivered his best offensive performance of the postseason Thursday with 25 points and 11-for-16 shooting, but more than that, it was the defense that he and OG Anunoby combined for that gives the Knicks hope heading to Boston for the next round. The “Wingstop” duo was formed to try to provide an answer for Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and they might be playing their best right now.
“Yeah, they’re a hell of players and got moves for days and physical,” Bridges said. “Yeah, definitely a challenge, but it’s never one-on-one. You got four guys behind you, your teammates, so it’s just team defense and just helping each other out.”
Something to prove
The Knicks were 0-8 against the top two teams in the Eastern Conference — Boston and Cleveland — in the regular season. Now, after scrambling to get through the Pistons, they get a chance to prove that putting this team together was the right move.
The one thing that the Knicks have going for them is that despite the physical battle with Detroit, they are as healthy as they have been all season. The roster is completely available and Brunson’s balky right ankle was good enough for him to put up 40 points.
“Obviously, I haven’t dug into that yet,” coach Tom Thibodeau said of the Celtics. “I watched some playoff games. We will be doing a lot of work the next couple of days. Our assistants and the advance guys have been working on it for a long time. We have some days for recovery and preparation. They are the defending champion, so we know we are going to have to do our best.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
