Jalen Brunson 'Overconfident' Knicks Can Take Next Step After ECF Loss to Pacers
This is not the end of the road for the current New York Knicks team.
Jalen Brunson is “overconfident” the Knicks will take the next step after their Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.
“The most confidence. Overconfident. Seriously. There’s not an ounce of any type of doubt that I’m not confident with this group,” Brunson told reporters after the loss.
Brunson didn’t sugarcoat the sting of dropping the series 4-2 with a final 125-108 defeat.
“It sucks, simple as that. It sucks,” he told reporters.
After finishing the regular season 51-31 and making their deepest playoff run since 2000, Jalen Brunson isn’t sugarcoating the Knicks’ successful year ending in heartbreak, refusing to acknowledge what the team "accomplished" this year.
“Not sure accomplished is the word that we’re gonna use here, but I think the way this team progressed this year, for me, it was fun," Brunson said.
In the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Knicks knocked off the Detroit Pistons 4-2, powered by a series-clinching 40-point performance from Jalen Brunson.
They followed that with another 4-2 series win in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, this time toppling the defending champion Boston Celtics behind Brunson’s team-high average of 26.2 points per game.
Brunson elevated his play even further against the Pacers, averaging 33 points per game in the Eastern Conference Finals. But outside of Karl-Anthony Towns, who added 25.4 points per contest, the duo received limited support in the series.
The Knicks head into the offseason with their dominant starting five locked in under contract and minimal risk of roster shakeup from unrestricted free agency.
