While some fans of the New York Knicks are still upset they improved by just one game compared to last season, most are happy with how the regular season turned out.
They finished 51-31 and as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, and hosted the Detroit Pistons for Game 1 of their NBA Playoff series.
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New York will aim to go up 2-0 in the series when the teams face off again on Tuesday.
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) drives to the basket against Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13).Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
NBA makes significant Jalen Brunson announcement
The result in Game 1 was once in doubt. They were getting outmuscled, and it appeared the Pistons were up for the challenge.
To make matters worse, Jalen Brunson went down with what appeared to be an injury to his right foot.
He briefly went into the locker room but returned with roughly nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, albeit in a different pair of shoes.
Whatever change Brunson made, it worked. He helped lead the Knicks on a 21-0 run and scored 12 points in the fourth quarter.
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It was just the latest clutch performance from Brunson, as both his teammates and the club’s fans have seen his heroics time and again.
As a result, the NBA made a significant announcement Sunday when it named Brunson as a finalist for the Clutch Player of the Year award.
His name appeared alongside those of Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić and Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards.
Trae Young was an interesting omission from the list, as he was listed as having the third-best odds for the award just days before the finalists were announced. However, no Knicks fan would ever go to bat for Young.
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Brunson had edged out Jokic late in the season and was a -200 favorite on April 18 at bet365.
Coming into the season, Brunson was the fifth-most likely player to take home the award at +1400.