Sports

Jalen Brunson’s grim courage to put Knicks on his back should never be in doubt

Jalen Brunson had come back into the game with 10:14 left and stepped first on the throttle and then Detroit’s throat. He’d pushed the Knicks across the finish line, somehow seizing control of this best-of-seven series three games to one, somehow scoring 15 fourth-quarter points. It was more than the sneakers. It was grim courage.

DETROIT — Later, when it was OK to laugh, when it was OK to breathe again, Tom Thibodeau could smile about something that made an awful lot of folks back home physically ill maybe 45 minutes earlier. In that awful moment, the series of images in rapid order seemed to dim the light on the Knicks’ entire seasonal mission. Dennis Schröder landed on Jalen Brunson’s right leg.

Brunson reached for the leg, screaming, crawled off the court. He tried to stand up, with the help of Karl-Anthony Towns. Couldn’t.

Fell back down. If those didn’t have you reaching for a sleeve of Rolaids, this one did: Brunson finally finding his feet, limping off toward the locker room. There were 2 minutes, 52 seconds left in the third quarter.

The 16-point lead was long gone; the Pistons led by five, and by the start of the fourth, that would swell to 11. And who knew what was up with Brunson in the back rooms..