Getty Head coach Tom Thibodeau talks with Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks.
New York Knicks‘ do-it-all forward Josh Hart made fun of coach Tom Thibodeau’s “Facegram” comment on Jalen Brunson that went viral before they secured the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference on Sunday, April 14.
“Yo, Jalen Brunson, hit me on FaceGram,” Hart mockingly said on X, quote-tweeting Thibodeau’s hilarious comment on Brunson.
“He doesn’t have a Facegram or whatever you call it,” Thibodeau told reporters, per New York Post’s Stefan Bondy, when asked about Brunson’s steady focus this season.
Brunson produced another sterling effort with 40 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead the Knicks to their first 50-win season since the 2012-13 season. It was Brunson’s 11th 40-point game, tying Patrick Ewing for the second-most 40-point games in a single season in franchise history behind Hall of Famer Bernard King’s 13 in 1984-85.
Brunson also tied Ewing (1989-90) and Richie Guerin (1961-62) for the most 30-point games in Knicks history with 36 this season.
The Knicks All-Star guard poured nine points in the fourth quarter as he rallied New York back from an eight-point deficit to force overtime.
Brunson opened scoring for the Knicks in the extra time with two free throws and assisted on a Donte DiVincenzo 3-pointer and a Precious Achiuwa layup for a 116-112 lead which they never relinquished.
Nobody Saw This Coming
Brunson rose from a second-round pick and an “overpaid free-agent” to a bona fide All-Star in the NBA with the Knicks.
Nobody saw this coming except for Brunson.
“Even the Knicks didn’t really know,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on the “NBA Today” on April 13. “And they know him better than anybody. His dad’s on the staff. His former agent, Leon Rose, is their president. They didn’t expect this. They knew they were getting a potential All-Star point guard. They’re getting a player now, who can be the best player on a legitimate contender.”
Brunson finished the season with another Eastern Conference Player of the Week after leading the Knicks to a 4-0 record to climb from No. 4 to No. 2. He averaged 38.5 points and 7.5 assists last week. He wound up averaging 28.7 points in the regular season, tying Carmelo Anthony for third in the best single-season scoring average in franchise history.
King set the franchise record with 32.9 points per game during the 1984-85 season.
“It is hard to remember a player who has taken steps the way he has,” Wojnarowski said of Brunson. “And you stop saying that he can’t be the best player on a championship team. Because every time you say that’s as far as you can go with Jalen Brunson, he elevates it again.”
Two-time WNBA coach of the Year Becky Hammon made the deriding comment back in December after the Knicks’ 16-11 start.
“They’re not getting into that tier,” Hammon said of the Knicks on December 21, on “NBA Today.” “They don’t have enough personnel. They don’t have the manpower that they need to hang with those guys.”
“I think you’re going to get a consistent team like they’ve been a pretty good team. They’re well-coached. They’re going to be on their defensive game but at the end of the day, they don’t have a dude. You got to have a dude — a 1A dude and they’re missing that.”
Brunson took off, earned his first All-Star berth and led the Knicks to the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.
Knicks Face Heat-Sixers Winner
Sunday’s win earned them a first-round meeting against the winner of the Miami Heat–Philadelphia 76ers play-in matchup.
They would have avoided the two playoff-tested teams and face the Indiana Pacers instead had they lose. But playing not to win is not in Knicks’ DNA under Thibodeau.
Losing to the play-in-bound Bulls even after Cleveland and Milwaukee deliberately tanked their final game to avoid either the Heat or Sixers was not an option for New York.
“Really? I mean the object is to win,” Thibodeau told reporters if he it crossed his mind to tank to pick a lighter opponent. “Put everything you have into winning. That’s the bottom line.”
The Knicks secured homecourt advantage until the conference semifinals should they advance past the first round.