Changing of the Guard

The Knicks played the best 18-minute stretch of their season (outscoring the C's 55-32) in the most important half of basketball the Garden has seen this century.

Final Score: Knicks 121 - Celtics 113
Series: 3-1

Before we get to the good stuff, it's only right to start today's newsletter by respectfully offering our best wishes to Jayson Tatum.

With three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Tatum was felled by a non-contact injury to his lower right leg and stayed on the court in apparent agony. He had to be carried off the floor and escorted out of the arena in a wheelchair. If the pending injury update is as awful as most experts expect (an Achilles tear), he would miss not only the rest of these playoffs but also the entire 2025-26 season.

I feel truly terrible for Tatum. He's one of the faces of the NBA and an honorable ambassador of the sport. He's a rare superstar who has maximized his talent through hard work and dedication to his craft.

That being said, those disingenuously claiming that Tatum's injury was the turning point in Game 4 are mistaken. When he limped off the floor, New York was leading by nine and had all the momentum in the world on their side, as they had just played the best 18-minute stretch of their season (outscoring the C's 55-32) in the most important half of basketball the Garden has seen this century.

The evening started in a familiar fashion, with Boston storming out of the gate and New York bumbling through the first few minutes. The Celts jumped out to a double-digit advantage midway through the first quarter and led by as many as 13 in the second.

Up 11 at halftime, the C's extended their cushion to 14 points (72-58) when Derrick White drilled a three-pointer with nine minutes remaining in the third quarter. Tom Thibodeau called a timeout.

The Knicks had mounted miraculous second-half comebacks in the series' first two games. Did they have another one in them? You damn right they did.

It was The Captain, of course, who got the ball rolling. Brunson knocked down a trey in New York's first possession out of the timeout, diced inside for a layup on the Knicks' next trip and followed that up with two made free throws. An individual 7-0 run by Brunson breathed life back into his team and energy back into MSG.

Tatum hit several difficult, contested jumpers, matching JB nearly bucket for bucket.

However, while Tatum's teammates went cold, Brunson's got hot.

With their PG getting his customary rest at the start of the fourth quarter, the Knicks needed their supporting cast to step in and step up. Mikal Bridges once again saved his best offensive output for the final frame, scoring ten points on 5-of-6 shooting. With Brunson watching, New York ran several actions designed to get Mikal on the move, going downhill. Bridges torched Boston in the midrange, raining in fadeaway jumpers from all angles.

OG Anunoby, who gave the home crowd a scare by grabbing at his hamstring in the first half, was also absolutely brilliant down the stretch, converting all four of his FG attempts and scoring nine points over the final 6:30 of regulation.

Karl-Anthony Towns was also incredibly efficient, pouring in 11 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the second half.

On the rare occasion that New York missed, Mitchell Robinson was there to clean up on the offensive glass.

When the victory was finally within reach, the Knicks gave the rock to Brunson and let him close the show as only Captain Clutch could.

After another Brunson barrage in Game 4, KAT wasn't the least bit surprised. "Honestly, do we all expect anything less?" Towns said of JB. "I expect nothing less from Cap. It gets to the fourth quarter, and he's a bad, bad man when it comes to the fourth quarter and clutch points."

What is there left to say about this dude? When he willed New York to the second round during his first postseason run with New York, the critics dismissed it as a fluke. After putting incredible numbers in big moments in 2024, plenty of pundits still refused to give him the respect he had earned.

Inexplicably, even after winning the NBA's Clutch Player of the Year award in 2024-25, there were still non-believers who argued that Cade Cunningham was the best player in NY's first-round series vs. Detroit. When the Knicks advanced, there was a lot of chatter about how, although he'd done well against weaker opponents, Boston would surely shut down Brunson.

Now, JB has his team on the precipice of their first trip to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years, and has been shattering records along the way.

Brunson has scored 102 points in the 4th quarter through New York's first ten games this postseason, the most 4Q points over the first ten games of a playoff run in the NBA's play-by-play era.

A couple of other good, clutch players are below him in this category. Here is the leaderboard for most points scored in the 4th quarter over the first ten games of a postseason:

1. Jalen Brunson (2025): 102 points
2. Kobe Bryant (2001): 100 points
2. Kobe Bryant (2003): 100 points
4. Stephen Curry (2023): 99 points
5. Kobe Bryant (2008): 99 points

And if all the mind-boggling numbers weren't enough, as if Knicks fans could possibly love this man anymore, he always says the right thing.

When Brunson was about to be interviewed by ESPN on the court after the win, his teammates were celebrating raucously on the floor, and the camera caught JB wildly waving his arms. A few minutes later, when reporters in the locker room asked the reason for his gesticulations, The Captain responded: "I was actually telling everyone to get off the court. It's nothing to celebrate."

7 down.

9 to go.

Other Takeaways and Knicks Notes: