Act I, In Two Plays

After all of that in the first three quarters, the multiple injury scares and the slightly-off shooting, Jalen Brunson tapped out an offensive rebound officially credited to Mikal Bridges, stepped over to the corner, and earned his first NBA Finals “BANG!” from Mike Breen by nailing a three over a diving Stephon Castle with 1:50 left in the fourth quarter.

Karl-Anthony Towns, the hero of the evening for his extensive two-way effort against Victor Wembanyama as well as his extremely effective stewardship of New York’s offense in Brunson’s absences, was yet again busy holding Wemby back in the paint.

On a night full of them, it was as good a play as any KAT made: the specter of Wembanyama is such that players are practicing altered shot arcs, resulting in some success and also some ducks. OG Anunoby, who otherwise had a roundly splendid Game 1, shorted the rim entirely on one attempt.

A little under a minute later, Wemby – again with KAT as his primary defender, blanket coverage – mishandled the ball, resulting in a Josh Hart-led fastbreak that aimed to exploit anything they saw. Hart, himself in the midst of an especially Rondo-esque pursuit, had a record-creating night resulting in 3 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and four steals. What Hart saw on this particular run was Brunson, 12/31 on the night and suddenly everywhere in clutch time, having drawn Devin Vassell into an isolation.

Brunson lured Vassell slowly, and then, as had been his nature before any of the knee and/or ankle worry began, all at once. First driving, then spinning in reverse, stepping back, and then faking, and then – that’s me in the corner, now, losing my religion, or re-gaining it, or something celestial – ducking under a jumping Vassell and ignoring an ambivalent Wemby to nail the biggest shot of his career so far.

If the New York Knicks are going to continue to entertain the idea of doing this thing, of taking it to Big Vic and the San Antonio Spurs that won nine more games than they did in the Tougher Conference™, they are going to need these plays.

Landry Shamet, Deuce McBride and, most delightfully, Jose Alvarado were excellent patches during a distressing time for the team and its fans, but back-to-back Game 1 comebacks from double-digits down in the second half seem like they will specifically require Jalen Brunson. Onto the next, tonight’s Game 2.