Getty Jalen Brunson handling the ball during Game 6 against the Indiana Pacers on May 17.
For a second-straight year, the New York Knicks season ends in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. But as opposed to 2023, their Game 7 loss to the Indiana Pacers seems a just ending.
Injuries will be the story of the 2023-2024 Knicks, leading some to say they overachieved, making it as far as they did.
But if you ask Jalen Brunson, it wasn’t enough.
When asked postgame if he thought the season was a success given all that the team overcame, Brunson responded “no.”
“Did we win a championship? Did we get close? So, no,” Brunson said on May 19. “That’s my mindset. That’s just how it is.”
New York finished with 50 wins in the regular season for the first time since 2012-2013.
For a second-consecutive year, they made it to the Conference Semifinals, going one game further than their six-game series loss to the Miami Heat in 2023.
Brunson finished top-5 in MVP voting, and the Knicks made it to Game 7 of the second round despite the absences of Bojan Bogdanovic, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson.
Brunson’s eyes are set on a championship, and it’s admirable. But there’s little doubt this season will go down as one of the most surprising and successful in New York’s storied history.
Knicks Have Two Leave Game 7 with Injury
Anunoby returned for Game 7, hit his first two shots, and subsequently checked out for the remainder of the game.
He was previously listed questionable with a left hamstring strain that had kept him out since Game 2. Anunoby was a game-time decision, and his rallying appearance lasted just four minutes.
After the game, head coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters it was his decision to pull him out of the game.
“Just the way he was moving, I didn’t want to risk it,” He told reporters on May 19. “I thought the lift from him hitting the shots, I didn’t feel like he was moving well. It didn’t make sense…I didn’t think it was worth the risk. I love OG…He gave us everything he had. And that’s all you can ask for.”
Anunoby was though to be an x-factor that could potentially lift New York past Indiana. But after he checked out, they fell into a 39-27 hole in the first quarter. And they never got closer to the Pacers’ then 5 points.
The end all, be all, came in the third quarter, when Brunson too checked out with a hand injury.
It was later announced by the Knicks as a fractured left hand. So Brunson’s season ended 16 minutes before the rest of the team.
He finished Game 7 with 17 points and 9 assists on 6-of-17 shooting from the field.
Thibodeau: ‘I Can Live With the Result’
Thibodeau didn’t contradict Brunson’s evaluation of New York’s 2023-2024 season.
“Knowing that they gave best effort, all year long, I can live with the result,” Thibodeau said. “It’s disappointing, but in the end there’s only going to be one happy team. Everyone falls short. 29 teams will fall short. If you’ve given everything you have, you can live with whatever the result is, there’s no regret. This team fought like crazy.”
But he didn’t agree either, saying the Knicks overachieved in the minds of everyone outside the organization.
“I think in many ways they exceeded everyone’s expectations,” Thibodeau continued. “Except for probably our own. We wanted to keep going. So we always had to believe we had enough, whoever was in there.”
They didn’t have enough in Game 7.