Jalen Brunson finished Game 4 with 22 points in 28 minutes, then turned the night into a family scene. After the Knicks' 144-114 win over the 76ers on Sunday at Xfinity Mobile Arena, Brunson was seen picking up his daughter, Jordyn, kissing her on the cheek and later holding her while sharing a kiss with his wife, Ali.
The moment matched the result. New York blew past Philadelphia to close out the first-round series and reach the Eastern Conference finals for the second consecutive postseason run, a decisive finish in a matchup that had mostly been tight before Sunday. Brunson shot 8-of-17 from the floor and 6-of-10 from 3-point range, another efficient line in a playoff run in which he has averaged 28.0 points while shooting 48.6 percent overall and 37.5 percent from deep.
Brunson walked off the court holding Jordyn's hand as she moved beside him, then brought her into his postgame news conference. There, the toddler, who will be 2 in July, twice interrupted the room with a simple greeting: “Hi dada,” then “dada” again. For a player who has carried much of New York's postseason burden, it was a rare pause from the basketball and a reminder of who was waiting when the game ended.
The celebration also carried a larger significance for the Knicks. The series-clinching win came in emphatic fashion against a 76ers team that had pushed the matchup hard before Sunday, and it sent New York into the conference finals while it waits to learn whether the Pistons or the Cavaliers will be next. Asked afterward about what reaching this stage might mean in the bigger picture, Brunson gave a veteran's answer: he said he would rather answer that once he retires, adding that the place means a lot to him and that the story is still being written.
That was the most honest ending the night could have offered. The basketball was one story, the family scene another, and Brunson's refusal to rush the meaning of it all fit both: a player in the middle of a postseason run, a wife and daughter at his side, and a Knicks team that has made sure the story is not finished yet.
