INDIANAPOLIS — Jalen Brunson insists he’s “okay,” but the All-Star point guard certainly looked his usual way Sunday, despite not being listed on the Knicks’ official injury report for Game 5. He didn’t seem to be showing his explosive power, leaving a few hits short.
Brunson injured his right foot in the first half of Game 2 and played six quarters, but missed 11 of 17 shot attempts and scored 18 points in 31 minutes, the lowest in the 2024 playoffs, as the Pacers defeated the Knicks to tie the series. Recorded. In the fourth game.
“It’s a feeling thing and not overthinking it. Sometimes the ball goes in, sometimes it doesn’t,” Brunson said. “We’ve had a lot of games where we’ve started badly and finished shooting 50 percent. We’ve had games where we’ve started 100 percent and finished below 50 percent.
“The game is basketball. You just have to do things you don’t know and don’t expect. Well, the ball didn’t go in.”
But it appeared to be more than that as Brunson couldn’t get his usual separation on his shots, missing seven of his 11 misses in front of the rim.
Brunson, who averaged 34.6 points per game in his first nine playoff games this spring, made 16 of 43 from the floor and 2 of 11 from 3-point range in the two road losses. That includes Sunday’s five misses from deep in the game.
After Andrew Nembhard largely assumed that role in New York’s first two games, Pacers manager Rick Carlisle has primarily had Aaron Nesmith guard Brunson over the past two games.
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“The answer is simple: Yes, we’ll figure it out,” Branson said. “I mean, they’re definitely physical…and when you’re over 30, [points]nothing is easy.
“There’s nothing but flowers and roses, but yes, I have to take this L. There are no excuses. There’s nothing to blame. What we have, what we don’t have, who… There are no excuses for how you feel or anything like that. We take the L and move on.”
