It feels impossible. That seems incredible. At the very least, it seems unsustainable. Maybe all three apply. Maybe there will be a night, or a team, with an answer to Jalen Brunson better than the basketball grunge band known as the New York Knicks. They’ll probably play against the Pacers on Wednesday night.
Must see on Wednesday.
As of now, the Knicks are 1-0 in this series thanks to an impossible and unbelievable 121-117 victory over Indiana. They won this game the same way they won all four games against Philadelphia in the first round, playing a bit of rope-a-dope for the first 40 minutes or so before calling it quits.
Mariano Rivera was in the building Monday night. He had to like what he saw from the Grunge Knicks, especially Brunson. Brunson is a basketball rivera, a dead-eye closer. This time he scored 21 of his 43 points in the fourth quarter. They trailed by nine points early in the period. Trailing by two points with a minute and a half left.
Tom Thibodeau then passed the ball to Brunson like Joe Torre.
“What do we need?” Thibodeau asked. “That’s what he gives us.”
Here’s what he gave them with 1:14 left in the game.
12 footer. Tie, 115-115.
He found Donte DiVincenzo open behind the 3-point arc. When the water splashed, it felt like one of the trains six floors below had passed through the floor of Madison Square Garden. It was 118-115.
Followed by three free throws. And that was it.
“We just found a way,” said Brunson, the first player in NBA history to score at least 40 points and score at least five assists in five consecutive playoff games. Say these five words again. “We can have confidence in each other to ensure we get the job done and move forward together.”
It feels impossible. That seems incredible. At the very least, it seems unsustainable. And there was another game in which the Knicks had a raspberry shot at the Minute Police. The starters played 214 of 240 minutes, with Josh Hart (24/13/8) scoring all 48 points, DiVincenzo (25 points, 5-for-9) and OG Anunoby scoring 44 points. (13 points, nine boards, countless defensive deflections) scored 42 points.
And, of course, Branson is 44 years old.
“We always maintain a presence,” said Isaiah Hartenstein, the laziest of the 36. “Especially towards the end.”
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Knicks in the NBA playoffs
What we learned Monday night was what we suspected. The Pacers are going to be a tough team, and the numbers are going to be low. Star guard Tyrese Haliburton had a disastrous game (six points, three turnovers) and almost gave up a point. In fact, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle probably pulled a joke at the end of the game by pulling TJ McConnell, who was living up to the “annoying little st” medal given to him by Hart the other day.
Carlisle and the rest of the Pacers probably privately told him that Myles Turner was whistled for an offensive foul with 12.1 seconds left and the umpire was goofing off as the Pacers were preparing to score a game-winner at the buzzer. I’m sure you’ll give it to me. Perhaps they did. It was certainly close.
“We don’t expect to get any calls here,” Carlisle said. “I wish they could have fired that person, but they didn’t. That’s just the way it is.”
An important two-minute report will probably be released on Tuesday. On Monday, the only thing that mattered was the 48-minute report.
“They played fast and physical,” said DiVincenzo, who scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half. “We had to adjust to it.”
“Our approach is we have to play hard,” Thibodeau said.
They did it. They often do that. The Garden was deafening early on, shocking late, and in the middle we kept waiting to see the version of the Knicks that tormented the 76ers in the first round. Then, just in the nick of time, the Knicks, the short-shorts-wearing grunge band and basketball Soundgarden, arrived to make the Garden sound as lively as it has for years.
(At least within 24 hours of the Rangers doing the same thing on Sunday.)
“It wasn’t a great win for us, but a win is a win,” Hart said. “We always want to learn from wins more than we learn from losses.”
There’s more basketball ahead, trust me. Halliburton will never be this bad again. McConnell will be back again. The same goes for his old friend Obi Toppin, who played just 19 minutes (12/6/3) and was great, and another player, Carlisle, who could have played more. Turner is baggage. So is Pascal Siakam. They will have another crack on Wednesday.
At this point? For the Knicks? It feels impossible. That seems incredible. At the very least, it seems unsustainable. Maybe all three apply. Someone will have to prove it first.
