Knicks’ Jalen Brunson Amazes NBA Fans Amid Injury, Keys G2 Win Vs. Haliburton, Pacers

Somehow, someway, the New York Knicks keep winning.

Injury scares were the predominant theme for the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed in Wednesday’s Game 2 of its second-round series against the Indiana Pacers, but it still came away with a 130-121 victory at Madison Square Garden.

Jalen Brunson dealt with a https://twitter.com/NY_KnicksPR/status/1788372339140264330 and spent extended stretches of the first half in the locker room before returning to finish with 29 points and five assists. AND Anunoby was https://twitter.com/NY_KnicksPR/status/1788387217578090952 for the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury but did much of the heavy lifting in the early going with 28 points and four rebounds.

The team is already without Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanović, but it doesn’t seem to matter as Donte DiVincenzo (28 points, six rebounds and four assists behind 6-of-12 from three-point range) and Josh Hart ( 19 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists) also dominated.

Brunson and the Knicks drew rave reviews for their efforts:

While there was some controversy at the end of Game 1 when the Knicks benefited from an incorrect kicked ball violation call in the final minute, much of the outcome came down to Brunson vastly outplaying Haliburton in a battle of the stars.

Those two were once again under the spotlight in the early going of Wednesday’s contest, as Haliburton stuffed the stat sheet while catching four from three-point range to give the visitors a double-digit halftime lead.

On the other side, Brunson suffered the injury and spent much of the first half in the locker room. New York’s initial lead quickly dissipated, and the focus turned to the bigger picture of Brunson’s health.

After all, he has carried them throughout the postseason and scored 40 or more points in each of the previous four games. The Knicks’ hopes of a long playoff run rest firmly on his shoulders, which is why the https://twitter.com/briancmahoney/status/1788377513980260403 when Brunson returned for the second half.

He didn’t just return, he brought that crowd to life by helping spearhead a 21-4 run to seize the lead. While Brunson being on the floor provided the emotional lift, it was DiVincenzo and Anunoby doing much of the scoring with Hart doing a little bit of everything.

It was just a matter of time before Brunson found his footing, though, and he pushed the lead to eight going into the fourth with a scoring kick of his own.

However, the Knicks didn’t have Anunoby for that fourth quarter, which put even more of the onus on Brunson and others. Naturally, they were up to the challenge with DiVincenzo hitting critical three-pointers and Brunson scoring in crunch time to give New York a 2-0 lead before the series shifts to Indiana for Friday’s Game 3.