New York Knicks Mike Vaccaro Jalen Brunson needs to start closing again or Knicks’ season could end fast By Mike Vaccaro Published April 23, 2026, 11:38 p.m. ET A dejected Jalen Brunson walks off the court after the Knicks' 109-108 Game 3 loss to the Hawks on April 23, 2026 in Atlanta. AP ATLANTA — Mike Brown did the most logical thing in the world. There were 12.5 seconds left in a basketball game the Knicks had been desperately trying to steal for an hour. The Knicks had the ball. They have Jalen Brunson on the team.
And normally, that is the soundest of all basketball strategies. Brunson has a home at the corner of Clutch and Fearless, he has shown that time and again, year after year. Time and again, even when he isn’t at his best for the first 45 or 46 minutes of a game, he is an assassin across the final two.
