New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson and his teammates were eliminated from the NBA Playoffs by the Indiana Pacers Saturday evening. Many favored the Knicks ahead of the matchup, so the result was likely shocking, yet familiar for Knicks fans.
Brunson continued his hot-scoring nights into the series against the Pacers after knocking out the defending champion Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals. He scored 43 points in Game 1 and followed up with 36 in Game 2. However, it wasn't enough, as the Knicks dropped the first two games.
Jalen Brunson of the Knicks.
© Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Jalen Brunson does one key thing better than Stephen Curry
It seemed as though the length of the NBA Playoffs caught up with Brunson when he shot just 8-for-18 from the field in the all-important Game 6, which they needed to win to stay alive.
Stephen Curry's season came to an unfortunate end when he suffered a hamstring injury in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. There was hope he would have been able to come back if the Warriors had extended the series to six games, but they fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves in five.
LeSean McCoy took to FS1's The Facility to give his opinion on what Brunson does better than Curry.
"This might not be popular because I'm a Steph Curry fan but I would say 1 on 1, I think [Jalen] Brunson scores better than Steph 1 on 1," said McCoy.
While Curry is the better all-time player and shooter, Brunson's ability to blow by a defender and even draw contact at the rim is something Curry wasn't quite as strong at.
Both teams will now go into the offseason, likely looking to make moves to bolster their respective rosters. Most of the Knicks' lineup was assembled through trades, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see them continue to be one of the more active and aggressive teams this summer.