Fan’s Rant Gets Jalen Brunson Fired Up, Keeps Knicks In-Season Tournament Chances Alive After 21-Point Comeback Win
Screenshot ESPN
On Friday night, the Miami Heat seemed to have the game in the bag against the New York Knicks. However, Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson had other plans.
Brunson led an impressive comeback in the fourth quarter of the game, turning the tables on the Heat and securing a victory for the Knicks.
Interestingly, Brunson revealed that he had an unusual motivator during the game – a Knicks fan who expressed his disappointment when the team was down by 21 points. Brunson took the fan’s words to heart and used them as fuel to help his team make a stunning comeback.
“Honestly, a fan looked at me in my eye and said, ‘This is embarrassing.'”
Jalen Brunson said a fan told him – “this is embarrassing” – while the Knicks were down by 21.
Brunson took that personally and got the W pic.twitter.com/VM4l4oHURX
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 25, 2023
In the meantime, the fan has come forward on Twitter and revealed the interaction from his point of view. This led to various Knicks fans voicing their appreciation and gratitude towards the fan, mainly for saving them and keeping the Knicks alive in the NBA’s In-Season Tournament.
Your welcome nyc #knicks #jalenbrunson #wehere pic.twitter.com/nB7mR1vv7j
— larry wu (@vintagelarrywu) November 25, 2023
You fucking did that King thank you for saving our tournament season ❤️
— Kev (@Noontoken) November 25, 2023
Yo bro I salute you. Blowing you up now.
— Joe Barbour (@JosephRBarbour) November 25, 2023
At halftime, the Knicks were leading by one point, 51-50. However, they quickly found themselves in a difficult situation as the Heat went on a 19-0 run in the third quarter, taking a commanding 69-51 lead with 7:33 remaining.
The Heat continued to extend their lead and eventually reached an 83-62 advantage after Jimmy Butler’s 3-point play with 3:40 left in the third. The Knicks managed to make a comeback, going on a 9-2 run and reducing the deficit to 14 points before the end of the quarter.
Butler responded with a layup, giving the Heat an 87-71 cushion heading into the fourth quarter. As the fourth quarter began, Josh Richardson extended the Heat’s lead to 18 points with a long two-pointer, making it 89-71. However, the Knicks fought back with an impressive 28-7 run, highlighted by Jalen Brunson’s stepback jumper, which gave them a 99-96 lead with just 1:24 remaining.
With the win, the New York Knicks are now tied with the Miami Heat at 2-1 in East Group B, and also hold the tiebreaker over the Heat.
