DETROIT — Buzzer. Game. Series. Jalen Brunson buried the Detroit Pistons.
The Knicks clawed their way through a bruising, back-and-forth first-round series against the Pistons and needed one last bucket to put it to rest. One look at the clock, one glance at the score and there was no doubt whose number they’d call.
This is why he’s the NBA’s newly minted Clutch Player of the Year. Why teammates trust him, why opponents dread him and why the moment never feels too big. Because when the Knicks need saving, the captain puts on his cape.
Brunson’s shot — a cold-blooded pull-up three with the season hanging in the balance — was the dagger that sent New York to its third straight second-round appearance. Everyone knew it was good the second it left his fingertips.
This is an oral recount of the moment Brunson waved goodbye to Detroit.
“All I thought is if he can get some separation,” said Mikal Bridges. “Once he got separation, I knew it was curtains.”
THE MOVE
Ausar Thompson hadn’t just hounded Jalen Brunson in Game 6. He’d made it his full-time job — all series, all season — shadowing New York’s All-Star captain like a second skin. Every jab step, every pivot, every brush screen: Thompson was there, guessing right more often than not. Brunson had been going left all night, as the lefty so often does. And Thompson, sharp as ever, preloaded the read: force left, beat him to the spot, end the possession. But Brunson had something else in store. He drove left into Thompson’s chest then snatched the ball back in-between his legs. Thompson’s momentum carried him far left, leaving tons of real estate wide-open for New York’s captain to buy up.
THOMPSON: “I’ve gotta do a better job of absorbing the contact and staying with him. I’ve gotta hit the weight room.”
BRUNSON: “I don’t really go and think, ‘Alright, I’m gonna make this move right here.’ It’s just instinct. He beat me to the spot. He cut me off. Just went back the other way, and I found a lot of space, and I was able to take a shot.”
TOM THIBODEAU: “He gets a lot of attention and he’s getting trapped and he knows how to move without the ball. Obviously, very clever with the ball. Shifty can get to the spots he wants.”
KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS: “It’s tough, and you feel for [Thompson] because you’re playing one of the premier players in the NBA, and you’re a premier defender and sometimes good defense is beat by great offense. And JB is a special player, so I think he’ll learn from that, he’ll grow from this experience, and for me, I want to see him evolve from this moment and use this as motivation.”
THE SHOT
As Thompson’s momentum carried him left, Brunson made his way right. He dribbled into a pull-up three at the top of the key as if Little Caesars Arena had become the Knicks’ Tarrytown training facility. Two dribbles, rise, release. The shot floated as if time hit pause. Brunson didn’t watch from the spot he shot it — he walked the arc of his own creation, his left arm frozen mid-air, guiding it home like a paper plane on autopilot. He shot 3-of-13 in the fourth quarter alone before nailing the series-winning shot.
THIBODEAU: “That’s what makes him so special. We talk about all the intangibles. It’s just makeup. … It’s how you deal with if you miss a shot. He comes back and shoot the next one great. He may miss it, but he’ll shoot the next one. It’s just having that the belief and confidence. It really comes from his preparation. He has a lot of poise under pressure.”
THOMPSON: “I slid in front of him and got a stop, but he’s a great player, so he made a big-time shot at the end.“
TOWNS: “No [doubt the shot was going in]. No, no, no. He’s the Clutch Player of the Year in the NBA for a reason. I was just amazed to see it happen, and I was wondering if it was gonna be a swish or he was gonna hit some part of the rim. But in true fashion, I don’t think any one of us thought when he got that good of look it would ever go off.”
CAM PAYNE: Man I seen him work on [that move] all the time. I work out with him every day, so I ain’t gone say I’m surprised. That’s Clutch Player of the Year. He’s that for a reason. So he made a hell of a play.”
BRIDGES: “When he shot it and made it, I thought I made it because I was so geeked up. I thought I hit the game winner. Needed that.”
JOSH HART: “[He works on that move] all the time. There wasn’t any doubt because he puts the work in. When you put the work in you can live with any outcome. We’re very comfortable with the ball in his hands. Heck of a bucket.”
OG ANUNOBY: “I thought it was going in. I think most shots he shoots are going in. I wasn’t surprised it went in at all. He’s a great player.”
THE CELEBRATION
Brunson’s shot ripped through the net with only seconds left on the clock. A rowdy, often disrespectful Detroit crowd — one that had booed and cursed his every touch — suddenly fell silent, the noise swallowed by disbelief. Then came the finishing touch. In a moment that unfolded like slow-motion, Brunson delivered his signature celly: left arm to the sky, hand to his nose, then lifted skyward again — aimed directly at the fans whose season he’d just ended with the move of the series.
BRIDGES: “I just know him so well and I think high pressure situations happen that doesn’t phase him. I’ve been around him so long and he’s even keeled throughout the whole night. Doesn’t matter if he’s struggling, no matter if he’s hooping, you can never tell.”
THIBODEAU: “His focus is terrific. He never gets sidetracked with anything but the game, so he’s never thinking about what people say, or fans or the opponent or stuff like that. He’s locked into getting the job done and bringing his teammates with him. The same could be said for all our starters. They’re willing to sacrifice for each other, and we know we have to play hard.”
BRUNSON: “I stay poised and I rely on the trust and composure that my teammates give me. … Obviously everyone is going to say a lot about the last shot, but … got to give a lot of credit to my teammates. None of this happens without them.”
THE END
The Pistons called timeout and drew up one final gasp to save their season. Cade Cunningham inbounded to Tim Hardaway Jr., who quickly handed the ball back. As the defense shifted, Malik Beasley — who had clawed his way out of a series-long slump to bury six threes on the night — flared out to the corner, wide open. Cunningham found him. The pass was crisp. The look was clean. But Beasley never got the shot off. The ball slipped through his fingers and skidded out of bounds with under a second to play. A brutal twist of fate. Knicks ball. Hart inbounded to Anunoby, who launched the ball skyward as the clock expired — and so, too, did the Pistons’ season.
BRUNSON: “If [that shot] doesn’t go in, hopefully we go into overtime. We had a lot of time left. But the ball did go in. That’s all I care about.”
HART: “Great move, and great thing he made because he would’ve given them a chance to win it. That’s our guy. Clutch Player of the Year for a reason. It feels good to move on.”
BRUNSON: “Just found a way to create some separation. Shot it a little earlier than I wanted to but, Ausar is such a great defender man. And just the fact that I got that much space, I had to shoot it. … That dude was tough to play against. He is big-time. And I told him straight to his face after the series, he made me work, so I have a lot of respect for him.”
J.B. BICKERSTAFF: “I give Ausar a ton of credit for what he was doing out there defensively, the effort that he put in. He’s guarding one of the most difficult matchups in the NBA. And again, you’ve got to tip your hat to Brunson for creating the space and finding his shot there at the end. But he’s hard to guard, and the space that they play with and how he can generate space at his size is remarkable. And again, I thought Ausar did a great job on him. [Jalen] just did what he does and made one more.”
THOMPSON: “Probably not gonna watch [that play] for a little.”
THIBODEAU: “Jalen’s shot, what can you say? He’s at his best when his best is needed. He’s done it all year. That’s what makes him special.”
