NEW YORK — As he sat on the podium, his left hand and wrist immobilized after struggling a fracture in a season-ending 130-109 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Recreation 7 at Madison Sq. Backyard on Sunday, New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson was requested if this season was successful.
“No,” he stated, flatly.
Requested later why that was the case, he responded, “Did we win the championship? Did we get shut?”
After a pause, he continued, “So, no. That is my mindset.
“That is simply how it’s.”
That might additionally apply to Brunson’s damage, which occurred within the third quarter when, he stated, he swiped down at Tyrese Haliburton and felt one thing in his hand.
After a quick journey to the locker room, Brunson returned to the court docket for 14 seconds earlier than checking again out with 3:02 to go within the third quarter and heading to the locker room for what would develop into the remainder of each the sport and New York’s season.
“I believed I simply jammed it, to be sincere with you,” Brunson stated of briefly checking again into the sport, solely to go away once more. “I appeared down and knew one thing was incorrect.”
For Brunson, it was a irritating finish — on each a private and crew degree — to what was a superb season, one which included him ending fifth within the NBA’s Most Worthwhile Participant voting earlier this month. He completed with a median of 32.4 factors throughout his 13 playoff video games — second solely to Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, whom he vanquished within the first spherical.
However after coping with a foot damage earlier on this collection, Brunson and the Knicks fell brief in opposition to an Indiana crew that set an NBA document for a playoff recreation by capturing 67.1% from the sphere in Recreation 7, per ESPN’s Stats & Info analysis.
“I’d say there’s professionals and cons to how I performed,” Brunson stated in evaluating his season. “The professionals, clearly, are I performed properly individually at some factors within the playoffs. The cons are that I did not play properly sufficient to assist my crew transfer ahead.
“You may say I received harm in Recreation 7, I wasn’t taking part in properly in Recreation 7. We had a 2-0 and a 3-2 lead, it is simply onerous to take a look at issues individually when you do not assist your crew.”
Brunson, who isn’t prepared to increase on a lot on the microphone, maintained that method after this recreation. When requested about the potential of signing an extension with New York this summer time — he’s eligible to ink a four-year, $156.5 million cope with the Knicks in July — Brunson minimize off the query earlier than it may very well be completed, saying, “I will speak about that one other time.”
When requested in regards to the ceiling of a wholesome Knicks crew — by the tip of Recreation 7, New York was lacking Brunson, Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic — he stated, “We’ll speak about that subsequent 12 months.” Nonetheless, when requested in regards to the trajectory of the crew, he admitted, “I feel we’re making optimistic strides. We simply have to make extra.”
However, in typical vogue, he stated he is not happy together with his personal recreation, even after what simply was the most effective season of his profession. To that finish, Brunson stated he can be singularly targeted on bettering when he is in a position to get into the fitness center this summer time. at any time when his fractured capturing hand heals.
“I am going into the summer time yearly trying again on how I may very well be higher as a participant, to be probably the most full participant I will be,” Brunson stated. “There’s clearly going to be lots of issues, X’s and O’s-wise, bodily and different stuff I may do to be higher. I feel an important factor that I have to do is to proceed to simply try for perfection, simply try for perfection, and understanding that I am by no means going to get there.
“Simply, my thoughts says I simply should be higher each single day. I do not care what I’ve finished as a participant, it means nothing. … I am going to enter this summer time coaching to be higher.”