Knicks’ Jalen Brunson shows no sign of injury after knee scare in Game 1 of NBA Finals
SAN ANTONIO — Jalen Brunson turned both his knee and ankle in the Knicks’ victory over the Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday. The Knicks captain didn’t show any lingering signs of ailment ahead of team practice at Frost Bank Center on Thursday.
Spurs forward Harrison Barnes fell into Brunson’s right knee midway through the first quarter of Game 1, and the All-Star guard immediately limped to the sidelines then to the locker room. But as he’s done time and time again for the Knicks since arriving as a free agent in the summer of 2022, Brunson gutted through the injury and returned to help his team in the second quarter.
Midway through the second quarter, he fell to the ground after making a driving floater to bring the Knicks within five, but Luke Kornet accidentally stepped on his ankle after the landing.
“Obviously structurally, [you] can’t go in hurt; it’s just that mental aspect, what you’re going to do when you’re banged up a little bit,” Mikal Bridges said ahead of practice on Thursday. “You go to the side, [are you going to say] ‘I’m a little hurt, I don’t know if I can do it?’ Or are you going to mentally pull through. Sometimes you’re banged up, it can be a mindset, too.
“It’s just a credit to how he plays the game, how he goes about life. He’s got that mental toughness, and he’s going to fight no matter what.”
Brunson shot 1 of 7 from the field in the first quarter. He went 4 of 8 in the second and 2 of 7 in the third before shooting 5 of 9 for 13 points to lead the Knicks to victory in the final frame.
“With the ball in his hands, I’m never surprised. I tell you, that last shot, I think it was a shoot floater, that was nasty. I ain’t going to lie,” said Karl-Anthony Towns. “When we all saw him limp off, we were worried not only because he’s Jalen Brunson but more because he’s our brother, and we are a family in our locker room. We want to — [we were] just worried about his health. But when we were on the court, and I saw him walking back out to the bench, it was a relief feeling just to know he’s safe. That was really at the end of the day all we care about is his safety.”
Knicks head coach Mike Brown said he couldn’t afford to pay any attention to Brunson’s injury when it happened in-game.
“I’m too emotional when I get caught up in injuries, so when he got hurt and he went out, [I said], ‘Jose, let’s go.’ And I was about to throw Tyler Kolek in the game, too,” he said after the game. “Jalen came back, tough as nails, and to me he didn’t seem like he had any effect afterwards.
“I haven’t talked to our medical people. He didn’t look like it was bothering him down the stretch, and so I think he’s OK.”
Brunson finished with 30 points on 12-of-31 shooting from the field.
Alvarado impact
In Brunson’s minutes off the floor, Jose Alvarado made big plays to keep the Knicks in the game. The Brooklyn-born Alvarado finished with seven points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal in 11 minutes of play in Game 1.
“He was huge. We talked about it during our film session. I pointed it out before we got started. When Jalen went out the game, he came in, and he kind of stabilized us because we were floundering a little bit. He got us into our offense,” Brown said on Thursday. “He was really, really good defensively. He’s always into the game. He’s always present. So for him to be able to come and hold down the fort the way that he did was much needed.”
No comment
Brunson declined to answer a question regarding the fan interaction he had at the end of Game 1.
“I’m all good on talking about that,” he said.