Jalen Brunson Bawa New York Knicks Bungkam San Antonio Spurs

Aksi gemilang Jalen Brunson di kuarter keempat berhasil membawa tim tamu New York Knicks mengalahkan San Antonio Spurs dengan skor 105-95 pada Game 1 Final NBA yang berlangsung hari Rabu di Frost Bank Center.

Dilansir dari nbcnews.com, Brunson mencetak 13 poin pada kuarter terakhir untuk membawa Knicks unggul 1-0 dalam seri ini, sementara Spurs tampil kacau dan hanya mengemas 19 poin di periode penutup.

Knicks kini memiliki rating ofensif 107,7 dalam momen krusial di babak playoff ini, sedangkan Spurs mencatat rating ofensif 96,8 setelah kekalahan tersebut menurut data statistik pertandingan.

Pelatih kepala New York, Mike Brown, memberikan pujian mendalam atas performa luar biasa yang ditunjukkan oleh point guard andalannya tersebut sepanjang paruh kedua pertandingan.

"Like the young people say," kata Mike Brown, pelatih Knicks.

"he went to his bag …" tutur Mike Brown, pelatih Knicks.

"He’s a gamer, man," ucap Mike Brown, pelatih Knicks.

"In the biggest moments, he shows up, and that’s what MVPs are supposed to do. We put the ball in his hands and said we are going to live and die with him. And he got it done for us." ujar Mike Brown, pelatih Knicks.

"In the biggest moments, he shows up, and that’s what MVPs are supposed to do," kata Mike Brown, kepala pelatih New York.

"We put the ball in his hands and said we are going to live and die with him. And he got it done for us, and that’s happened time after time after time. He got to his spots, and he made plays." ucap Mike Brown, kepala pelatih New York.

"[Brunson] was the MVP in the second half. … He did what MVP candidates are supposed to do. He carried us home." tutur Mike Brown, kepala pelatih New York.

Di kubu lawan, Victor Wembanyama sempat bangkit dengan mencetak delapan poin beruntun, namun ia tetap tidak efisien dengan hanya memasukkan 3 dari 8 tembakan di kuarter keempat serta melakukan dua kesalahan umpan.

Secara keseluruhan, Brunson membukukan 30 poin dari 31 tembakan, sementara Wembanyama mengemas 26 poin setelah hanya memasukkan 28,6 persen dari 21 tembakannya tetapi berhasil melesakkan 12 dari 13 lemparan bebas.

Pelatih San Antonio Spurs, Mitch Johnson, memberikan pandangannya terkait performa berat yang dihadapi oleh timnya dan efektivitas pergerakan Brunson di lapangan.

"I expect he’ll learn a lot of things from (Game 1)," kata Mitch Johnson, pelatih Spurs.

"and come out with a good approach in Game 2." ucap Mitch Johnson, pelatih Spurs.

"He’s a tremendous player that’s skilled, picks his spots, knows his angles, shoots contested shots without being sped up. He’s a phenomenal player." tutur Mitch Johnson, pelatih Spurs.

Meskipun Brunson sempat mengalami nyeri pada lutut kanan di kuarter pertama dan pergelangan kaki kirinya terinjak di kuarter kedua, ia tetap mampu bangkit memimpin timnya menuju kemenangan.

Kapten Knicks tersebut menjelaskan bahwa keyakinan serta kerja keras menjadi faktor utama yang membuatnya tetap tampil percaya diri di lingkungan pertandingan tandang yang penuh tekanan.

"You never know what’s going to happen," kata Jalen Brunson, pemain Knicks.

"Plays are going to happen, and you can’t really script what’s really going to go on." ucap Jalen Brunson, pemain Knicks.

"I think it starts with my confidence. It comes with my work ethic," tutur Jalen Brunson, pemain Knicks.

"Most importantly, knowing we’re on the road and knowing my teammates have my back, I think that’s the biggest thing in an environment like this — the trust they have in me and the trust I have in them, it’s got us to this point." ujar Jalen Brunson, pemain Knicks.

Pertandingan berikutnya untuk Game 2 dijadwalkan akan tetap berlangsung di markas San Antonio Spurs.