Jalen Brunson said the New York Knicks’ push toward a championship is being driven less by circumstance than by what he sees inside the group every day. With the Knicks one win from the title after a 107-106 Game 4 comeback over the Spurs, Brunson said the team’s biggest edge is internal.
“Our mentality, our belief and our confidence within each other,” Brunson said. “I think helps us in that aspect. So it really starts with our mental approach.”
The Knicks have already put themselves in position to close out the NBA Finals on Saturday in San Antonio, and Brunson said the atmosphere has only reinforced how unusual this run has been. Asked about Knicks fans buying tickets on the road again, he said he feels it every night.
“Yeah. I appreciate it more than I think I’ll ever be able to say,” Brunson said. “And just very grateful and thankful. It’s a really cool experience and like I said, it’s something that you can’t really talk about and you just have to experience it.”
For Brunson, the challenge now is not getting swept up in the scale of the moment. Instead, he said the Knicks keep returning to the habits that carried them here.
“I think I’ve also been able to understand what a unique opportunity this is,” he said. “And so it really is not really that normal, but when you’re doing the things that help you prepare for games, prepare for moments, and you put yourself in the routines of you’ve done your whole career or your whole life, when it comes game time, you’re ready to go because you put yourself put your mind in the position to be ready.”
That approach has helped New York handle both the highs and lows of the Finals, including Wednesday’s historic rally from 29 points down. Brunson said the key after a win or loss is not to linger.
“I’ve always told myself when you wake up the next day, it’s time to turn the page,” he said. “And so yes, we won. But we still have a lot of work to do. We still have a lot to learn.”
He added that the Knicks know they were not at their best in Game 4, even while taking control of the series.
“We did not play our best basketball,” Brunson said. “So we still have a lot to revisit to make sure that we don’t really put ourselves in that position again.”
The Knicks have won big all postseason, but Brunson said the tighter games in this series have demanded a different kind of focus.
“When we practice and well we have film and we talk about situations what we have to do,” he said, “you’re always preparing you know worst possible case scenario. If this happens we got to be prepared for this.”
That preparation, he said, keeps the Knicks centered on the next possession instead of the scoreboard.
“When our mindset and our focus is on one possession at a time, one play at a time, one quarter at a time, you’re not really thinking too far ahead,” Brunson said. “You’re thinking about the now and how you can be better the next possession.”
He closed by crediting the people around him for keeping him grounded through the pressure of the Finals.
“I also have a very unique circle that keeps me humble and wouldn’t change that for anything,” Brunson said.
