Jalen Brunson scored 45 points on Saturday night to lead the New York Knicks to their first NBA championship in 53 years.
The Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
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Brunson earned Finals Most Valuable Player honors after averaging 32.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists across the five-game series.
He carried the offensive load on a night when teammate Karl-Anthony Towns was limited to two points.
The performance made Brunson only the third player standing 6 feet 3 inches or shorter to lead a championship team in scoring and win NBA Finals MVP.
He joins Isiah Thomas and Stephen Curry in that exclusive group.
Teammates Praise Brunson's Leadership
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson expressed amazement at Brunson's closeout game performance. "That was unreal, just literally unreal," said Robinson.
"I'm speechless."
Robinson highlighted Brunson's leadership during difficult stretches. "His mindset, his work ethic, his energy that he just brings," said Robinson.
"When stuff gets rough, we have a little sit-down talk and he gets us back on track, like a leader, like a captain."
Guard Landry Shamet credited Brunson for carrying the team's offense during a difficult shooting night. "We owe him," said Shamet.
"We weren't great offensively tonight, but he is generationally great offensively."
Shamet noted the team has grown accustomed to Brunson's high-level play. "There's really not a whole lot to say.
We all saw it. He carried us in a lot of different ways," said Shamet.
