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Knicks star Jalen Brunson savagely roasts his dad before potential closeout Game 5 vs. 76ers

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Jackson Stone | Last updated 4/30/24

Point guard Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks have a golden opportunity on Tuesday evening to advance to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs by sending Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers home during Game 5 at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks currently find themselves up 3 games to 1 in the best of seven series after their thrilling Game 4 win on Sunday afternoon on the road (although it really felt more like a home game due to the large contingent of Knicks fans packed inside the Wells Fargo Center), and although Brunson got off to a brutal start to the series, the point guard turned it around with an astonishing 47 point performance on respectable efficiency in the Game 4 victory.

Knicks fans have been waiting quite a long time for a team as exciting as the one they have now. In fact, the last time the Knicks were able to close out a playoff series on their home floor, Brunson’s father Rick Brunson–now an assistant under head coach Tom Thibodeau–was on the roster.

Brunson recently was jokingly reluctant to acknowledge this fact during a friendly exchange with NBA reporter Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.

“Some dude who is bald now,” said Brunson, when asked if he knew who was on the squad the last time the Knicks closed out a series at home, per Bondy on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter.

“Thibs?” replied Bondy.

“Thibs has more hair than my dad so leave it at that,” responded Brunson.

As far as playoff series overall, the last time that the Knicks advanced to the second round was actually last year, but they did so as visitors in their first round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5, and were eventually escorted out by Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat in Round 2.

How far can the Knicks go?

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) reacts after scoring against the Philadelphia 76ers during the fourth quarter of game four of the first round in the 2024 NBA playoffs at Wells Fargo Center. David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

At a glance, there’s no reason why this Knicks team shouldn’t be able to get all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals this season, a feat they haven’t reached in well north of two decades.

The absence of Julius Randle certainly doesn’t help, although considering that the power forward has been, statistically speaking, one of the worst playoff performers in the history of the sport, maybe it isn’t a terrible thing for the Knicks’ chances that he isn’t able to give it a go.

Should they advance, the Knicks would be likely to see the Indiana Pacers in the second round, who are likely to advance assuming they beat what’s left of the heavily-injured Milwaukee Bucks in their first round series. The Knicks would hold home court advantage over the sixth-seeded Pacers and would in all likelihood be the favorites to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they would see either the Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, or Cleveland Cavaliers (in other words, the Celtics).

However, first things first: knocking the 76ers out in Game 5 and giving themselves as much time to rest as possible before things continue.

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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