Madison Square Garden saw something close to a closeout performance on Tuesday night. Jalen Brunson dropped 39 points, Karl-Anthony Towns ran the offense with 16 assists across the last two games, and the New York Knicks took a 3-2 series lead over the Atlanta Hawks with a chance to clinch in Game 6 on the road.
For Brunson, it was a night defined by his trademark hesitation game and a fourth-quarter takeover that left the building in full roar. He has heard the questions about his size all his career, and he gave the same answer he always gives.
"There's a lot of players who are taller or faster or stronger than me, so I got to keep them off balance somehow," Brunson said.
The Knicks point guard refused to make the night about his scoring. Asked what the fourth quarter meant after watching shot after shot fall, he turned the camera back on the team.
"The ball went in, but I'm just happy that we were able to keep the lead and play well with it," Brunson said. "Their team was capable of going on runs, as we know from early in the series, to close out games, but I just like the way we played in the fourth and how we kept the lead."
Brunson, who scored 17 points in the fourth quarter alone, said the early start mattered as much as the finish. "It was just important for us to come out the way we did. Regardless of who's doing the scoring or whatever, I think just us being on the string on both sides of the ball really helped us. We were locked in mentally and the way we were playing, it's how we wanted to play."
If Brunson supplied the points, Towns supplied a new dimension. The big man has dished 16 assists across Games 4 and 5 and waved off the suggestion that this was something new.
"Passing has been my thing since I came into the league," Towns said. "Sometimes the scoring gets more noticed than the passing, but I'm glad that I'm able to have the opportunity to show what I could do passing-wise with my teammates cutting in this area. So I just got to continue to stay disciplined, continue to make the right play regardless if it's the scoring play or it's the hockey assist."
The Hawks have spent the series throwing different defenders at Brunson, including Dyson Daniels in Game 5. Towns said the Knicks treat that as part of the chess match. "I mean, everyone's going to make adjustments, just like we are as a team. So just being prepared for whatever the defense throws at us and being able to react accordingly."
Towns also used the platform to push for OG Anunoby, who has anchored the Knicks defensively all series.
"He's one of the best two-way players in the NBA," Towns said. "This series has been great for him to show the world on a big stage that something that we've always thought he was. I believe he's going to be a first team all defensive player and he deserves it. He deserved it last year, but glad he's getting recognition this year."
Both players were asked about heading to Atlanta with the chance to clinch. Brunson kept his answer to one word: "Confident."
Towns was a little less terse, but no less locked in. "The toughest game to win is the one that ends someone's season. So we got to be super disciplined. We got to execute at the highest level that we have in this series, and we got to be ready for a really tough game."
