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Despite a brutal Game 2 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in their NBA Eastern Conference first-round series, New York Knicks starting point guard Jalen Brunson was a picture of calmness during his postgame interview.
He credited the Cavaliers for responding to the challenge and never blamed anyone on his team.
“I love how we fought, and as I said, I give [Cleveland] credit, and they played really well, but I’m never really disappointed with my teammates,” Brunson said after the loss. “We go out there. We sit together. We win together. We lose together. No matter how disappointing, we just got to be better.”
His level-headedness has been the Knicks’ guiding light as they navigated a rough start to the season until they reached this far — 1-1 deadlock with the Cavaliers as the series shifts to New York, where they are 24-17 this season, and have won 7 of their last 10 games.
So how did Brunson develop his calming leadership that was lacking in the Knicks teams of the past?
“I think what comes natural to me is that the people who I have around me, they keep me level-headed,” Brunson told reporters after Thursday’s practice. “[They] Never get me too high nor too low. For the better part of my career, I’ve talked to a sports psychologist and he’s been a great help to me. But it’s just all about how you prepare yourself, and I try to prepare myself as best I can.”
Jalen Brunson says he’s been seeing a sports psychologist for the better part of his career.
He also credits his loved ones with keeping him “level-headed”
Through the first two games of the series, Brunson is leading the Knicks in scoring (23.5 points), assists (4.0) and steals (3.0).
Jalen Brunson Excited for Madison Square Garden’s Electric Atmosphere
Brunson is looking forward to his first playoff game at Madison Square Garden.
“I’m very excited,” Brunson said after Thursday’s practice. “It’s always been the best place to play in the league. It’s going to be unreal. I just know that it’s going to be an electric atmosphere.”
Jalen Brunson is looking forward to playing in his first playoff game at MSG:
“It’s always been the best place to play in the league. It’s going to be an electric atmosphere.”
The Garden has become Brunson’s stage for some of the best games in his career, including three of his 40-point games this season. In 37 home games this season, Brunson has been putting up 24.5 points, 6.1 assists and 3.4 rebounds with a solid 49/42/82 shooting split.
Cavaliers Coach Defends Jarrett Allen’s Flagrant Foul on Julius Randle
Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff came to his starting center Jarrett Allen’s defense after the latter was hit with a flagrant foul in his chasedown block attempt on Julius Randle’s breakaway dunk in the closing minutes of Game 2.
“There was nothing dirty about the play,” Bickerstaff said. “It wasn’t a flagrant foul. He contested a shot at the rim. It’s that simple.”
Allen was adamant it was a hustle play.
Jarrett Allen after his hard foul on Julius Randle:
“Thats a hustle play, that’s a basketball play”
Dude.
“I mean, it was a contested dunk, like if you’re going to get a steal,” Bickerstaff said. “The Knicks] kept playing hard. They kept running through passing lanes, so why would one team play hard and the other one not?”
Randle showed some restraint despite the nasty fall. He briefly said some words to the Cavaliers’ bench before referees reviewed the play.
He was calm afterward, hitting the technical free throw before exiting the game straight to the locker room.
After the game, he dismissed the play as irrelevant, although he thought “it was a little unnecessary.”
“When you understand playoff basketball, you don’t give up on plays, and I respect that,” Randle said during his postgame interview. “I’m somebody who plays hard. I respect that, but typically when you make those kinds of plays, you run across their body, not through them. But it’s fine. It’s irrelevant [now]. We go back to the Garden, and we’ll see them there.”
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Secret to Jalen Brunson’s Calming Knicks Leadership Revealed