In what turned out to be Rick Carlisle’s final game as head coach of the Mavericks in 2021, Jalen Brunson played 10 minutes off the bench in a Game 7 loss to the Clippers in the opening round of the playoffs.
Brunson insisted Saturday that he needs no added motivation as the Knicks prepare to square off Monday against Carlisle and the Pacers in Game 1 at the Garden, but ESPN reporter Tim MacMahon, who covered him in Dallas, said on the Hoop Collective podcast, “I can assure you this: [Brunson] remembers getting essentially benched in that series.”
The Knicks’ emerging superstar wouldn’t bite when asked Saturday about that scenario involving Carlisle, who led the Pacers to a 47-35 record in the regular season and a first-round elimination of the Bucks.
“In all honesty, I said this last time, you’re in the playoffs now, there is no extra motivation,” Brunson said after practice in Tarrytown. “It is what it is. The past is the past. Rick welcomed me into the league and helped me become the player [I am today] and helped me grow from Day 1.
“Coaches got to make decisions that better suit their teams. Whatever happened, happened, and we’re moving forward from there.”
Brunson’s role expanded with the Mavericks the following season under Jason Kidd, and he averaged 34.9 minutes in 18 postseason games in 2022 before signing with the Knicks as a free agent that summer.
The former Villanova star finished fourth in the NBA with 28.7 points during the regular season in his second season in New York, and he upped those numbers to an NBA-best 35.5 points per game in the Knicks’ six-game elimination of the Sixers in the first round.
It marked the second straight year since Brunson’s arrival that the Knicks have advanced in the postseason, and the first time that has happened since they won nine consecutive first-round series from 1992-2000.
“Jalen Brunson is a guy you would never bet against,” Carlisle told reporters Saturday in Indiana. “You just don’t bet against that guy. I don’t know if anybody saw this coming, what he’s achieved for two years now, but if you know him and you know his character, you’re not surprised. You’re not shocked.”
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According to Carlisle, he visited with Brunson at Villanova before he was drafted by the Mavs in the second round in 2018, adding that he asked multiple people associated with the program who was the greatest player in school history.
“Right down the line, everybody responded the same thing, Jalen Brunson,” Carlisle said. “So there’s a program that’s got three national championships and he was a big part of two of those. He’s very special, he was great to work with in Dallas for I think it was three years.
“Just professional, great character, great basketball, great respect and love for the game. You cannot say enough great things about him and what he’s accomplished. He’s obviously a highly skilled player, but he’s got an indomitable will to accomplish what naysayers don’t think he can do. He’s just one of those kinds of guys. You have to respect what he’s doing.”
Brunson, who will go head-to-head with All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton in this series, posted 35.7 points per game in three appearances this season against the Pacers.
“The last two times we played him he had 40 in one game and 39 in the other. He’s leading the playoffs in scoring average,” Carlisle said. “It’s pretty obvious that he established a very high level during the season, and he’s maintained and/or exceeded it in the postseason, and that’s hard to do.”
