NEW YORK -- Throughout the hard-fought first-round series between the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks, star floor general Jalen Brunson has made magic happen in the late stages of games.
Brunson, the league's Clutch Player of the Year, had keyed his club's come-from-behind victories in Game 1, Game 3 and Game 4 by averaging better than 13 points per fourth quarter in the series, the highest postseason scoring average in the final period by any NBA player since the play-by-play era began in 1996-97.
All of which made it extremely odd to see Brunson sidelined at the scorer's table as precious time ticked away near the end of the Knicks' narrow Game 5 loss, 106-103, at Madison Square Garden.