“There’s No Excuse”: Jalen Brunson Beats Himself Up For Blunder That Costed Knicks Game 3 Defeat vs Pacers

The New York Knicks had maintained a good streak during their ongoing semifinal series against the Indiana Pacers. However, the same came to a halt during the recent matchup, with the Pacers taking home the win by a score of 111-106. The franchise could have had the opportunity to secure the win for themselves if lead scorer Jalen Brunson hadn’t missed out on a crucial three-pointer shot during the final 16 seconds.

With the eyes of the NBA world upon him at the moment, the player took it upon himself to highlight his thoughts. A few minutes ago, ‘The Athletic’ reporter Fred Katz highlighted Jalen Brunson’s statement in the aftermath of the game. The player criticized his play, despite the fact that he was still recovering from a foot injury. He stated that his full focus should have been on playing during all of his minutes on the basketball court. If a situation arose where he seriously got hurt, he can then step out. If not, then he has to give his 100%, which he believes he didn’t give.

On his missed three-pointer shot, Brunson stated that engaging in the action was “just a terrible decision” and “something I need to learn from.”

The New York Knicks recently suffered a setback after Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic were ruled out of the main lineup due to injuries. To add to the problems, the team’s third highest average scorer, OG Anunoby, was also ruled out of Game 3. Despite this, Jalen Brunson did his best to keep up the momentum while dealing with his own foot injury.

By the time the timer showed just 16.4 seconds, the Pacers were leading by 109-106. The ball was in Brunson’s hand. He had the chance to even out the score and, later on, add to it by either making another shot or allowing someone else to do it. However, with Aaron Nesmith and Myles Turner guarding him, the point guard supposedly got confused and ended up fumbling the shot. With this, a night that could have ended with highlighting Brunson’s triumph concluded with being one of his worst of the playoff series.

How did Jalen Brunson perform during the Knicks-Pacers clash?

Despite his last-minute fumble, Jalen Brunson’s overall performance during Game 3 was far from being his worst one. Not only did the player help the offensive effort in the absence of four major Knicks players, he also set a record to his name.

The point guard ended his 38 minutes on the court by dropping 26 points and 6 assists. He received assistance from Donte DiVincenzo as well, who led the scoring with his 35 points. Unfortunately for the duo, the Pacers continued to keep pace (pun intended) with them. His recent performance allowed Brunson to become the third player in the history of the NBA to accumulate 300+ points, and 70+ assists during the first 9 games of a postseason series. The only other individuals who secured this record were Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

While his performance was commendable enough, it could have been better. After all, Brunson went 10-26 with his field goals, 2-6 with his three pointers and 4-7 with his free throws. His field goal percentage was his lowest in over 6 games. The series has still not been taken away from the hands of Jalen Brunson and co. They still have plenty of opportunities to overcome the Pacers and proceed to the next stage of the tournament. However, it remains to be seen just how those opportunities will be utilized.