PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Brunson scored all nine of the Knicks’ points in overtime in Game 5, and the All-Star point guard called the offensive process “not great” during the five minutes added in the giveaway loss.
Asked Thursday morning, ahead of his second chance to shut out the Sixers, what specifically he could have done better, Brunson simply replied, “That’s my decision.”
He added: [the ball] Playing against the New York Knicks and not throwing to the fans in the front row would have been “very helpful.”
Brunson totaled 40 points in 51 minutes in the loss, but committed a key turnover with the Knicks trailing by two points with 18.0 seconds left in overtime.
“It’s obviously a game that’s on my mind because it’s a game that everyone sees,” Brunson added after the Knicks’ morning shootaround ahead of Game 6 at Wells Fargo Center. . “But when I say better decisions, I mean everything.
“I have to be better at everything I do. I can’t be mentally insane. Everyone thinks I’m tired, even though it’s nearing the end of the game, and that’s when I’m at my best.” I had to do my best, but I didn’t.”
In the aftermath of Tuesday’s collapse against MSG, the Knicks cited miscommunication over whether to foul Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey on a game-winning 3-pointer late in regulation.
Shortly after Josh Hart missed one of his two free throws to get the Sixers within three points, Maxey tied it with a 34-footer with 8.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
“I think we talked about it a lot, but obviously we weren’t on the same page as a team in that moment,” Brunson said. He also missed a technical free throw in overtime after being flagrantly fouled by Joel Embiid. “As I said before, Thisbus [Tom Thibodeau] Josh spoke to me right before he hit his first free throw. And I didn’t immediately tell the team what they had to do. I was just thinking about it in my mind.
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“Josh missed the first shot, so I think the strategy has changed now. As someone who should be leading the team on the court, that’s what I didn’t do.”
Still, Brunson said he didn’t even have to say anything after that, other than to get ready for Game 6.
“When we got into the locker room, we didn’t say anything, so I think that spoke volumes. Obviously, we missed a guy,” Brunson said. “You have to give them credit for the way they played until the final buzzer, but yeah, we didn’t say too much. We knew we let one guy go.
“Of course, if you have an opportunity to do something like that, you have to take advantage of it. It’s obvious that we’re not doing that, but for us, in this situation, how do we It’s all about being able to cope. You can be angry about it, you can be angry about it, but what do you do to make sure you’re ready for what’s next? By actually doing something about it. , you have to let it go.”
