Jalen Brunson has no problem with Chris Paul, even if he turned aside the 12-time All-Star’s hand in a tense moment during Thursday’s loss to the Warriors.
Brunson had been decked hard to the Garden floor at the end of the third quarter by Paul, who extended his hand to help up the Knicks’ All-Star point guard.
Brunson rejected the gesture, but he offered an explanation Friday in a video interview with Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report.
win over the Warriors. Jason Szenes for New York Post
“First, I’ve got the utmost respect for Chris. I’ve known him since high school, and he has a great relationship with my dad,” Brunson said, referring to Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson.
“It’s all love before the game. I said ‘Hi’ to him before the game. I said ‘Hi’ after the game. But during the game, I mean, if I get knocked down, I prefer my teammates to help me up, no matter what the situation is.
“So when he came to pick me up, I was just like, ‘Nah, I can’t right now.’ And that’s all I said.”
The 38-year-old Paul walked away with his hands raised, and Brunson instead was helped up by teammate Bojan Bogdanovic. Brunson sat out the Knicks’ previous game Tuesday against the Pelicans due to cervical neck spasms.
The Knicks (35-25) will be in Cleveland on Sunday night to face the surging Cavaliers, who defeated the Pistons with All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell sidelined Friday with left knee soreness.
Caris LeVert (elbow) also sat out for the Cavaliers, who have won 21 of their last 26 games to improve to 39-20 overall. Mitchell and LeVert are listed as questionable against the Knicks.