Knicks' Tom Thibodeau Says Jalen Brunson Is 'At His Best When His Best Is Needed'
Tom Thibodeau praised NBA Clutch Player of the Year Jalen Brunson after his late three-pointer sealed the New York Knicks' series-clinching win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night.
"Jalen's shot, what can you say?" Thibodeau said after the Knicks' 116-113 Game 6 victory. "Timely. He's at his best when his best is needed. He's done it all year. That's what makes him special."
The game was tied 113-113 when Brunson hit his game-winning shot with less than 10 seconds left on the clock.
Brunson finished the game with 40 points on 15-for-33 shooting from the field.
He was defended throughout the game by Ausar Thompson, who succeeding in limiting Brunson to 16 points on 4-for-16 shooting from the field in Game 5.
The Pistons went on a late run and led by seven points with 2:35 remaining on the clock. But Brunson helped the Knicks close out the game with an 11-1 run, then crossed Thompson on the game-winning shot.
Coming up big in the clutch is nothing new for Brunson, who beat out the Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokić for the Clutch Player award after averaging 5.6 points per clutch situation— defined by the NBA as the final five minutes of five-point games— during the regular season.
Brunson also ranked second with 156 points and third with 28 assists in clutch situations. The Knicks went 17-11 in clutch games when Brunson was playing, according to the NBA.
"I think some people are born into it. I think I had to learn," Brunson said about being clutch when discussing the award last week on TNT's Inside the NBA. "I learned back in high school, I got better and better at each stage, and here we are."
Brunson and the Knicks will now move on to face the defending champion Boston Celtics, who advanced from the first round on Tuesday with a Game 5 blowout of the Orlando Magic. The Knicks are looking to make it to the conference finals for the first time in 25 years.
