Mike Lupica: It’s Jalen Brunson and his ‘Nova Knicks against the world in these playoffs

More than ever now it’s Jalen Brunson and the rest of the ‘Nova Knicks against the Pacers, and what feels like the world. They did it again in Game 2, came all the way back the way Brunson came back after a first-half foot injury, managed to do that even though it’s as if they’ve turned into a hockey team like the Rangers, and whomever they’re facing the rest of the way is going to be on the power play.

Somehow, though, they just keep coming. And their story got a little bigger Wednesday night, as Brunson continues to have a postseason for the ages, and one of the best any New York athlete has ever had.

It’s why you started to get the idea Wednesday night that Brunson was playing on a broken leg instead of a sore foot as he rose up and his teammates rose up with him and the Garden rose up with all of them when the Knicks were taking the game back in the second half, and especially in a third quarter that was one of the great playoff moments any Knicks team has ever had.

“We did what we had to do,” Brunson said on television when it was over, even though what he did to the Pacers in Game 2 felt more like another movie moment for him and his teammates.

Brunson only played 32 minutes on this night after going to the locker room in the first quarter and then staying there the rest of the half. He still ended up with 29, would have had more if he didn’t miss a couple of free throws at the very end, would have gone for 40 again if he’d played the whole game. Josh Hart did play the whole game, of course, all 48 minutes, 19 points for him and 15 rebounds, nobody on the Pacers close to a rebound total like that.

Donte DiVincenzo? He went for 28 on Wednesday night, with six 3’s. ‘Nova Knicks against the world. With more than a little help from Isaiah Hartenstein, who started playing his pro ball in Germany and knocked around with the Rockets and Nuggets and Clippers and Cavs before becoming part of this wild ride the Knicks are giving themselves and Basketball New York right now. All Hartenstein did in Game 2 was score 14 points, grab 12 rebounds and end up two assists short of a triple-double.

Brunson got hurt, came back. OG Anunoby, who was having his best playoff game Wednesday, maybe the game of his pro career considering the circumstances, grabbed the back of his leg in the fourth quarter and did not come back. Still the Knicks kept coming. Keep coming. As they continue to make Next Man Up not just another cliché of sports, but their brand, totally.

How long can this go on as it really does seem the Pacers are going to be on the power play the rest of the way, especially with Anunoby hurt again? We are going to begin to find out on Friday night in Indianapolis, where so many Knick-Pacer basketball dramas have played out in the past. Once again, Brunson’s words, they will all have to find a way.

Starting with the Villanova guy having a New York postseason like this. For the ages, for sure. This 40-point run of his, one that absolutely would have continued if he didn’t sit out as long as he did, has started to feel like Clyde Frazier’s Game 7 on the night in 1970 when Willis Reed was the one to limp out of the locker room (36 points, 19 assists, seven rebounds), just every night. Clyde had that game with a title on the line. But for the Finals that year, No. 10 averaged 17 points and 10 assists. These days it really does feel as if No. 11 has now played eight Game 7’s in a row.

What Clyde did, what Mark Messier did, and Michael Strahan and Justin Tuck and them did to Tom Brady; what Reggie did in the ’77 World Series and what Derek Jeter did in more than one October and the way Phil Simms played in a Super Bowl once — those things happened in much bigger games than these, absolutely. The Knicks aren’t even to the Eastern Conference finals yet. Still: What Brunson is doing right now, in the moment — the moment being all that matters in sports, after all — looks and feels and even sounds just as big.

May 9, 2024: The Jalen Brunson Game!

We will see how the Pacers will respond now to having been smacked around in the first two games, and especially the way they got rolled in the third quarter Wednesday night. We will begin to get a sense in Indy, depending on Anunoby’s health, if this whole thing can continue to be sustainable with a rotation for Tom Thibodeau that you could fit inside a shot glass.

Really, we are going to find out if we still can get New York-against-Boston, one more moment out of the past and out of Knick legend, in the conference finals. We already know that as hard as the road there has become for the Knicks because of the injuries, it has just made the story they’re writing feel bigger, and better.

And everybody needs to appreciate what they are seeing, however long this all lasts, with as tough a Knicks team as the great Red Holzman ever coached, or Coach Riley, or Jeff Van Gundy. There have been better Knick teams than this, obviously. Two won titles and two since, in ’94 and ’99, fought for the title. This team still isn’t anywhere near any of that, at least not yet.

These Knicks are still something to see. Were something to see again on Wednesday night when it looked as if the Pacers might even the series and sure did not. Brunson came back. His buddies Hart and DiVincenzo were waiting for him. ‘Nova Knicks against the world.