New York Knicks' guard Jalen Brunson was one of the very best players in the postseason this year, although he and his team simply couldn't get it done against the Indiana Pacers, losing in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Brunson was stellar despite the loss, averaging 30.7 points and 6.7 assists in six games while shooting 50.4 from the field.
However, the Knicks were outscored by 11 points in the series, and Brunson was -26 when he was on the court. Simply put, he played well, but not well enough.
TJ McConnell guards Jalen Brunson.
© Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Jalen Brunson Uses One Word to Sum Up Series
As the Pacers celebrated on their home court after sending the Knicks "packing," Brunson opened up about how it felt to lose to the Pacers for the second season in a row, summing it up with one word: "sucks."
"Sucks, man," he said. "Simple as that, sucks."
Of course, Brunson couldn't leave his media availability on just that note, and even though he was feeling negative in the moment, he reflected on all the positives of the season.
"I think the way this team progressed this year, it was fun, because there was a lot of people saying we couldn't do a lot of things, a lot of negativity around what we were trying to accomplish and the way we just kind of put blinders on and went to work, that's what I'm most proud of with this team," Brunson clarified.
New York's core of Brunson, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Mitchell Robinson are all under contract next season, and while Hart and Towns did not live up to expectations, the Knicks did have their best regular-season since 2013 and went on their deepest playoff run since 1999, so maybe running things back with the same roster and an added year of experience is not a bad idea.
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