Jalen Brunson has had a number of otherworldly games lately for the New York Knicks. After a so-so start to the playoffs in New York’s first two games in their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers, Brunson caught fire, and then some.
After coming close to winning New York’s first-round series against Philadelphia, Brunson had yet another fantastic outing in the Knicks’ Game 1 win over the Indiana Pacers. To open New York’s Eastern Conference semifinal series against Indiana, Brunson had 43 points, six rebounds and six assists, and led the way once again down the stretch. Shortly after that performance, Donte DiVincenzo had the highest praise for his teammate, who was also one of his running mates at Villanova in college ball.
As Brunson’s former teammate at Villanova and also a good friend, DiVincenzo knows what he is capable of and the NBA is seeing it unfold before his eyes.
The latter was Brunson’s fourth consecutive 40-point game in the playoffs, something that hadn’t been done since Michael Jordan in 1993, according to StatMuse. Brunson has emerged as one of the best players in the NBA this season, and has really enjoyed himself in the last few playoff games.
Now, there seemed to be some buzz this year that Brunson could be in the MVP conversation, but he ultimately wasn’t named a finalist for the award.
Despite this, Brunson’s teammates and club know how valuable he is. Additionally, the aforementioned DiVincenzo emphasized how much he means to the Knicks postgame, claiming that Brunson is “our MVP.”
Now, even DiVincenzo may not have known that Brunson would become an NBA superstar, which he is now. Even without being named a league MVP finalist, Brunson has been ridiculously good so far in the playoffs.