Amidst a memorable second-round series victory over the Boston Celtics, the New York Knicks had a Game 5 they`d rather forget. Boston, playing their first game after Jayson Tatum`s Achilles injury, dominated New York with a score of 127-102, delivering an impressive team performance to keep their season alive.
That wasn`t the only surprise of the game. Less than halfway through the fourth quarter, Knicks star point guard Jalen Brunson fouled out – an occurrence that hadn`t happened to him in over four months.
Then came another unexpected moment: when shown on the TD Garden Jumbotron, Brunson was seen smiling and waving.
Was this a sheepish reaction after accumulating fouls? Was he simply amused by the situation? Or was it a deliberate smile and a goodbye wave, predicting that the Knicks would secure the series win at home in Game 6 and wouldn`t need to return to Boston for a Game 7?
As it turns out, his reasoning was far less complicated than the speculation suggested.
On the “Roommates Show” podcast, which he co-hosts with teammate Josh Hart, Brunson explained: “People were saying, `Oh, Jalen is waving because he knew he wasn`t coming back.` Like, no, that wasn`t it. I had just fouled out in a playoff game where we were down around 20 points or so, and I saw myself on the screen. I was just trying to find a positive angle in a genuinely bad situation.”
He continued, “I saw myself, gave a quick little wave. I didn`t think anything of it at the time, but then, obviously, it was being talked about everywhere after the game.”
The gesture ended up aging quite well, as Brunson later noted. The Knicks decisively defeated the Celtics 119-81 in Game 6, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since the year 2000. Brunson contributed 23 points in that clinching game, sharing the team`s scoring lead.
The Knicks are undoubtedly hoping to see more smiles from Brunson in the future – ideally not triggered by fouling out, of course – as they prepare to open the conference finals series against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday.
Jasper Hawthorne