Jalen Brunson hardly can make a shot, and the Knicks are 2-0 in their first-round playoff series against the 76ers.
Brunson got a fortunate bounce on a massive 3-pointer to kick off the winning sequence in the final 30 seconds of the game, but the All-Star guard endured his second straight rough shooting night in the Knicks’ miraculous 104-101 Game 2 win Monday night at the Garden.
Brunson followed up an 8-for-26 showing in the Knicks’ Game 1 victory on Saturday, by missing 21 of 29 field-goal attempts to lower his shooting percentage to .291 (16-for-55) through two games.
“The one thing about this team is no one really cares who’s doing what, who gets the credit for what,” said Brunson, who also clanked five of six shots from 3-point range in each of the two games. “We just want to go out there and win.
“I said it last time: I could play bad again and we win, that’s fine for me. Obviously, I want to play better, but to the point where we’re all sticking together no matter what, whatever the situation is, we’re gonna have each other’s back. So whatever’s working at the time, we’re just gonna keep going to it.”
Brunson’s lone 3-pointer at least was a huge one, a shot from the left corner that bounded straight above the rim and then dropped into the hoop to pull the Knicks within two with 27.1 seconds remaining to help set up Donte DiVincenzo’s game-winning trey 14 seconds later.
In addition to DiVincenzo’s late heroics, Josh Hart also had a second straight stellar game with 21 points and 15 rebounds in a full 48-minute outing.
“They’ve been playing amazing,” Brunson said about his two former Villanova mates. “If only I could get up to that level at some point. But the way they’ve been conducting themselves, the way they’ve been playing, the confidence, and just not getting fatigued or wavered when things aren’t going our way.
“We’re staying strong, we’re staying poised and composed. Long story short, we’re sticking together no matter what.”
Brunson also acknowledged that Sixers veterans Kelly Oubre Jr. and Nicolas Batum have done a strong job of leading a swarming defense against him, but he vowed to figure it out as the series shifts to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Thursday.
“[Batum is] a great defender, just gotta give him credit, they’ve been doing a great job, him, Kelly, whoever,” Brunson said. “I gotta be better and will be at some point.”
