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Reaching atop the basketball world and sitting on the throne where legends spent their careers are no easy feats. Jalen Brunson relentlessly developed from his youth with Rick Brunson and the Knicks, turned into a lethal guard at Stevenson High, became a two-time NCAA champion at Villanova, ushered in the Dallas Mavericks' post-Dirk Nowitzki era with Luka Doncic, and eventually returned to Madison Square Garden, even taking a pay cut to bring in a contending roster.
In their NBA championship year alone, he had some big statistical achievements, and we're going to run through them, whether it's from the regular season to the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.
Knicks' Regular Season
Signs of triumph do not just appear during the NBA Playoffs; they surface much earlier. This was exactly the case for Jalen Brunson. One of the first statistical marvels he painted with grace on the court happened against the Boston Celtics on October 24th. He toyed with a squad that did not have Jayson Tatum and scored 31 points. The Knicks ended up with the 105-95 win, and their captain cemented himself as a franchise legend from that point on. See, he usurped Rich Guerin for having the third-most 30-point games in Knicks history. The only people he trailed? Patrick Ewing and Carmelo Anthony, per StatMuse.
Postgame scenes in Boston 🤝
Knicks defeat the Celtics to rise to #2 in the East!
Jalen Brunson: 31 PTS, 8 AST, 4 3PM
Josh Hart: 19 PTS, 6 REB
Jose Alvarado: 12 PTS (NYK debut) pic.twitter.com/DuUNrABtKV
Just a month later, Brunson managed to come close to another Knicks franchise record. He scored 226 points through eight games. He is now ranked fifth among all Knicks legends for the most points scored through their first eight games of the season. 1984-85 Bernard King (246 points), 2017-18 Kristaps Porzingis (232 points), 1990-91 Patrick Ewing (229 points), and 1989-90 Ewing (228 points) were the only ones who ranked above Brunson for the hottest scoring starts in Knicks history, per ESPN Insights.
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Fast forward to December, the Knicks were facing the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Cup Quarterfinal, and they were a hungry team. Brunson needed to uplift his squad to new heights if they really wanted to head to Vegas. So, he did. The Captain went ballistic for 35 points while shooting 68.4% from the field. Along with the 117-101 victory, he also set another franchise record.
Brunson became the third player in Knicks history to have recorded more than 45 games with 35 or more points. They would end up winning the whole tournament, which meant the legendary guard joined Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James as the only three players to be hailed NBA Cup MVPs.
Later that month, Brunson thrilled Knicks fans again by scoring 47 points with six three-pointers against the Miami Heat. He tied Bernard King for the most 45-point games in franchise history, making 45 points a significant number in his season.
In February, Brunson's nickname was no longer just 'Captain'; the word 'Clutch' had to be added in. Against a Houston Rockets team making an effort to climb up in the Western Conference standings, he showed no mercy. Brunson snagged his 14th game-tying or go-ahead field goal in the final 30 seconds of a game ever since he signed with the Knicks in 2022. This was the second-most clutch shots throughout that span of time in league history. Only DeMar DeRozan has more, and even then, he only had 15 of those crunch-time field goals.
JALEN BRUNSON IN THE CLUTCH 💰
Brunson now has 14 game-tying or go-ahead FG in final 30 seconds of 4th quarter/OT since joining Knicks in 2022-23, second most in NBA in span (DeMar DeRozan - 15) 🔥 pic.twitter.com/7uYzIm9xos
To cap off the season, he blazed up against the New Orleans Pelicans on March 24. He scored 32 points while dishing out 7 assists. This marked Brunson's 99th 30-point performance for the Knicks. Only two other players who have donned the orange and blue have reached 100 games with 30 points - Carmelo Anthony (108 games) and Patrick Ewing (203 games).
NBA Playoffs Round 1: Knicks vs. Hawks
The Knicks' postseason campaign started off with a bang for Jalen Brunson. He ended up having a 28-point outburst to secure Game 1 against the Atlanta Hawks. This got the Captain to tie Walt Frazier for the second-most 25-point NBA Playoffs games in Knicks history.
Fun chess match at the end of Hawks/Knicks.
Brunson was trying to get the Okongwu matchup almost every time down. Hawks mixed coverages up very nicely to try and keep him off balance. Sprinkled in hedges, hedge-and-unders, blitzing, switching, hard doubling. pic.twitter.com/v4h6WvpxPj
Two days later, he also started unseating other Knicks legends from NBA Playoffs records. At this point in the postseason, Brunson was averaging 29.9 points per game. This ranked as the highest postseason scoring average in franchise history. Carmelo Anthony only got up 28 points per game, Walt Frazier only had 20.7 points per game, and Patrick Ewing averaged a mere 20.6 points per game. All of which paled in comparison to who would eventually get crowned as the 21st century's King of New York.
By the end of this round, Brunson also started leading all players in the NBA Playoffs in total points and field goals. He also tied Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for career 30-point postseason games. Both of them had 25 games of this type of scoring output.
NBA Playoffs Round 2: Knicks vs. 76ers
This series was not at all close from the jump, and it showed with Brunson's scoring outbursts. In Game 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers alone, he scored his 15th 35-point NBA Playoffs game. This was the most ever by a Knicks player in the postseason. See? He's starting to be alone at the top with these records now.
More: Jalen Brunson joins Bill Russell, Magic Johnson in exclusive club with championship trifecta
By Game 3, the 76ers just had no answer for him despite having VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey. Brunson had a field day as he notched 33 points to secure three wins for the Knicks. By the end, he now ranked 12th all-time among all guards when it came to 30-point postseason games.
When they closed this series out, Brunson just could not resist getting another record. He recorded the highest plus/minus among all competing players in the 2026 NBA Playoffs. Entering the Conference Finals, the Knicks' Captain Clutch had a +162. Only Josh Hart (+145) and Karl-Anthony Towns (+135) trailed him.
Eastern Conference Finals: Knicks vs. Cavs
It was the same story against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Jalen Brunson started off this series by scoring 38 points with 15 of those in the fourth quarter, leading the Knicks to the second-largest fourth-quarter comeback throughout all postseasons in the 21st century. This was also the largest NBA Playoffs comeback in the Knicks franchise history. Only the 2012 Los Angeles Clippers had a larger 24-point comeback against the Memphis Grizzlies. Take note: the Knicks went down by as much as 22 points in this bout, and it showed signs of what was to come.
When Game 2 rolled around, a sweep seemed imminent, and Brunson's claim to becoming the greatest Knicks player ever started to become material. He ranked first all-time in playoff points per game, first all-time in playoff assists per game, and first all-time in playoff three-pointers made. Moreover, he also dropped 19 points and 14 assists to get this Game 2 win. This was the most assists by a Knicks player in a postseason game since 1998.
KNICKS WENT ON A 20-0 RUN AGAINST THE CAVS 😳 pic.twitter.com/E28MjNWLnx
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 26, 2026Remember Brunson's plus/minus? This surged to +195 in Game 2 and reached +200 by Game 3. He became the first player since Kevin Durant in 2018 to record a +200 NBA Playoffs plus/minus. Furthermore, his 30-point, 6-assist performance moved Brunson past Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the most postseason points from 2024-2026.
More: Every historic record Knicks broke en route to their 2026 NBA championship
By the tail-end of this series against the Cavs, Brunson was starting to get compared to the Top 10 players of all-time. See, the Knicks had just swept their way to the NBA Finals and had won 13 consecutive postseason games. Towns and Brunson equaled duos like Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry's Golden State Warriors, Tim Duncan and David Robinson's San Antonio Spurs, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal's Los Angeles Lakers, and Magic Johnson and James Worthy's Lakers as the only teams with more than 10 consecutive postseason wins.
Brunson was on track, not just for the title of King of New York, but a top player of all-time now.
NBA Finals: Knicks vs. Spurs
Game 1 was, as expected, a big challenge for Jalen Brunson and the Knicks, but the numbers backed the orange and blue more than the team from Texas. In his first NBA Finals game, the King of New York scored 30 points with 13 of them in the fourth quarter. This got Brunson's averages to 27.1 points and 6.3 assists. This also got his plus-minus to equal that of 2017 Stephen Curry, you know, the leader of that Warriors team who basically won the title when the season started?
Game 2, Brunson had his own beat to dance to at this point, and he shared it with his other Knicks teammates. He recorded 20 points on two three-pointers made, six assists, five rebounds, and five steals. The Knicks' king was the first player since 2014 LeBron James, yet another top 10 player of all-time, to have gotten that type of output in the NBA Finals. He also equaled Rajon Rondo, Allen Iverson, and Michael Jordan as the last four guards in NBA Finals history to have those numbers.
This Game 2 output by Brunson also helped ignite the fire underneath Towns and Bridges. These three had 20 points, and it was only the fourth time in Knicks history that this happened in the NBA Finals. The first was in 1970's Game 4 with Willis Reed, 1972's Game 4 with Walt Frazier, and 1999's Game 4 with Allan Houston.
In Game 3, it was all Brunson despite the loss. He scored 32 points while dropping five assists and grabbing five rebounds. The Knicks may not have won, but their king took the third-most field goal attempts in the NBA Finals. He usurped Michael Jordan (26 FGA), only trailed Rick Barry (33.4), and Allen Iverson (32.4).
OG TIPS THE BALL IN FOR THE LEAD 🤯pic.twitter.com/INr16Auq8J
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) June 11, 2026In Game 4, the Knicks went up 3-1 because of the insane tip-in by OG Anunoby, but Brunson was still massive in the clutch. When crunching his 36 points, five rebounds, seven assists, and three steals, he became the reason why the Spurs could not get any sort of momentum in the second half. This meant that the Knicks, who were down by as much as 29 points, came back to grab the largest comeback in NBA Finals history.
THE KNICKS ARE NBA CHAMPIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 53 YEARS 🏆 pic.twitter.com/5cZTts5n5M
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) June 14, 2026More:Knicks’ Jalen Brunson sends message to Swifties amid Monica McNutt-Taylor Swift drama
Brunson, who recorded 2,139 points in the NBA Playoffs over the last five seasons, had now surpassed Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Nikola Jokic in postseason points, too.
Game 5 - the kid who trained alongside Allan Houston and Patrick Ewing had bigger comparisons in front of him. He lambasted the Knicks' supposedly great defense by scoring 45 points, unseating Willis Reed for the most points by a Knicks player in the NBA Finals. To add a cherry on this gorgeously constructed title run, Jalen Brunson only equals Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest player of all-time, as the only two guards to have a 45-point closeout game in the NBA Finals.
Brunson is a winner on every level; not even a generational curse on the Knicks could stop someone who trampled opponents with Stevenson High and defied odds as a two-time national champion with Villanova. Manhattan has a new king, and longtime fans would be proud to know that even Ja Rule could tell that he's from New York.
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