Jalen Brunson shines when Knicks need him most in epic Game 1 win

Behind Jalen Brunson, New York closes on a 44-11 run for a 115-104 win over the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the East Finals.

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NEW YORK —

It was a sight both strange and sensational, which says plenty in the city that doesn’t blink, and it defied the laws of physics.

Because in the last several minutes of the opening game of the

Eastern Conference Finals

, a grown man grew an entire foot.

That would be Jalen Brunson, small guard who went swole.

He shredded the Cleveland Cavaliers and an old basketball belief two at a time, one shot at a time. Step-backs. Driving layups, some off the wrong foot, all with his strong hand, the left in his case. A 3-pointer. All told, 17 points in the quarter and the overtime period he forced. Seriously? Yes, it’s true, there are witnesses. It all came in a rush.

It was all so sudden, so unexpected on a night when the New York Knicks and their 6-foot-1 guard appeared six feet under and their fans ready to beat the rush.

“They could’ve walked out if they wanted to,” said Brunson.

Eventually, Brunson accomplished two necessary things. He shocked the Cavs, who lost the game and may never recover in this series from watching their 22-point fourth-quarter lead get erased so rudely. And he perhaps changed the conversation regarding guards of a certain size and whether types like him are, ahem, big enough to win a championship, let alone reach the championship round.

Jalen Brunson leads the Knicks with 38 points in a dramatic comeback win over the Cavaliers.

Well, well: After this thrilling comeback, the Knicks are three wins away from the latter, and because of Brunson, they kept hope alive about the former.

“Obviously,” said Knicks coach Mike Brown, “We don’t get it done if Jalen Brunson doesn’t play like one of the MVP guys in the league.”

What Brunson did wasn’t exactly new, nor was it foreign inside Madison Square Garden, a place he owns. The Knicks have seen this before as Brunson is a former All-NBA player after all. The difference is, this is the best-of-seven playoffs. The difference is, the Knicks are legitimately pushing hard for their first NBA Finals trip since 1999.

So everything is magnified here in May — the stakes, the awareness, the prayers of a desperate and starved fan base, and in Game 1, the heart and desire and stature of their 6-foot savior.

The manner in which he sternly lectured his teammates in the timeout huddle right before the comeback, then capped a 38-point night, said plenty. It said this: The Knicks have their big man, with all due respects to Karl-Anthony Towns, and he tends to rise to the occasion.

“He’s an amazing player,” said Knicks forward OG Anunoby. “I’m happy he’s on this team. I think we’re all happy he’s on our team.”

Brunson made eight of 10 shots in the quarter and overtime. Compare this to James Harden and Donovan Mitchell, a pair of certified scorers who missed nine of 10 shots, combined for one point, over the same stretch for the Cavs.

What struck you about Brunson’s ballistic fourth quarter is this — the Cavs assigned Harden to guard him. That was … curious. And fatal, unsurprisingly.

Harden lacks the lateral movement and the foot speed to keep up. He aged about a year for every minute he was on the floor in that run. Brunson turned him into a statue and put him in Madame Tussauds.

Brown said: “It was no secret we were attacking him.”

Also, this: The Cavs called only one timeout during the Knicks’ 30-8 run. Wouldn’t another allow the Cavs to catch their breath, stop their heads from spinning?

One of the critiques of Brunson is his unwillingness to pass the ball in the moment of truth. This is something Brown wanted to change upon accepting the job last summer. Brown felt the Knicks had gotten too predictable with the ball in Brunson’s hands and the green light in his eyesight. Perhaps, Brown thought, Brunson could trust a teammate or two.

Here in late May, and the Knicks so close to taking an elusive next step in this journey, Brunson fell back into old habits … and his teammates were good with that. They knew he was clutch and cold-blooded.

Yes, Landry Shamet had a clutch 3-pointer. And Mikal Bridges, much maligned in a city that can be tough on its own, also dropped a crucial pair of those shots. But this comeback was Brunson-made and flavored, make no mistake, and necessary.

“He was a little comfortable,” conceded Mitchell.

‘That’s what he does’

So that was a wrap. This game had his signature. The Knicks followed their leader and the Cavs ruined a great chance, maybe their only one, to capture a conference final game on the road.

Now the topic will shift to this: Can a player the size of Brunson tugboat a team to the finish line and give this city a reason to litter Broadway with blue and orange confetti next month?

This isn’t necessarily a premature question because, absolutely, the series is hardly over. Still, it’s a fair examination of basketball logic, which says — bringing receipts — that a team whose best player is normal-sized will seldom if ever win a championship.

This may ultimately be proven to be true, especially since this hasn’t happened but once this generation, by Stephen Curry (not counting the two seasons when Kevin Durant was Golden State’s best player). And it comes at an interesting time, here in the Age Of Wemby.

But Brunson has big plans, emphasis on big.

If nothing else, he has transformed this franchise since arriving in ways no one else has since Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing arrived in 1985. There was similar hope once upon a time about the celebrated addition of Carmelo Anthony — again, this franchise hasn’t sipped champagne in over 50 years — yet Anthony never made it out of the East semifinals.

Four years now with Brunson, the Knicks have reached a pair of semifinals and made two straight East Finals.

What a time for the NBA, these conference finals in the East and West. Twenty-four hours after 7-foot-5 Victor Wembanyama — or maybe 7-foot-6 —

went historic

against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1, along came a player on the other end of the height stick who had a different degree of awe.

The Knicks are up 1-0 in a series that’s just beginning, yet New York can sense it.

“All we want to do is make this city proud … to accomplish that on a night where it didn’t seem like it was going to happen is an honor, truly something special,” said Towns.

What’s special is what the Knicks have in Brunson. He averaged 26 points in the first round, 29 in the semifinals, and now starts the East Finals with a monster drop.

When the Knicks absolutely searched for someone to raise their level on Tuesday, no one was more qualified.

“We’re never surprised,” said Anunoby. “That’s what he does.”

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at

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