Jalen Brunson furthered his crunch time legend in Knicks win

Jalen Brunson's NBA Finals debut got off to a rough start, but finished exactly how Knicks fans have come to expect.

Despite a poor shooting night overall, the Knicks captain poured in 13 points in the fourth quarter to help New York complete the comeback and grab a 1-0 series lead. Brunson, shrugging off two lower body injuries in the first half, fought for an offensive rebound with less than two minutes left that led to him draining a huge go-ahead corner three, then sealed the deal with a wild jumper that hit nothing but net with less than 40 seconds to go to push the lead to six.

Brunson, in eight minutes of fourth quarter action, logged a true shooting percentage of 66 percent, furthering his legend in crunch time that has continued to grow in this postseason, with Wednesday's game one win joining his iconic fourth quarter/overtime performance in game one of the Eastern Conference Finals in the latest installments of his clutch highlight reel.

It appeared to be a rough Finals introduction for Brunson as he struggled to make shots and fought off knee and ankle issues in the first half. He banged knees with a falling Harrison Barnes and limped to the locker room, inciting panic across the Knicks fanbase before he returned with blood seeping through his athletic sleeve on his leg. He then had his ankle stepped on by Luke Kornet, and fans were fearing the worst. But Brunson played through the pain and the rough shooting performance to come through when it mattered most, sending the Knicks to a 12th straight playoff victory.

Brunson finished with 30 points, but perhaps more impressively, he stepped up on the defensive end when the Knicks needed stops while the offense caught up. Often seen as a liability on that end of the floor, Brunson held the Spurs to 1-of-14 shooting when he was the primary defender, and in the second half, San Antonio shooters were 0-for-7 when Brunson was guarding them (per ESPN).

The Knicks still need three more wins to finish the job, but in game one, Brunson reinforced his label as a man made for the moment, upping his fourth-quarter stats this postseason to 59 percent from the field, 93 percent from the free throw line, and 62 percent from downtown. The Captain Clutch moniker seems as fitting as ever.