Keon Ellis literally didn't see it coming.
Ellis made highlight reels for all the wrong reasons on Saturday night into Sunday morning, as the second-year man was the victim of the finishing touch of Jalen Brunson's latest masterpiece: with Sacramento down by three in the final minute, the New York Knicks point guard made a late entry for the Academy Awards during his team's California road trip.
The All-Star tricked Ellis into believing that a pick was coming, and once Ellis' head was turned, Brunson breezed by to put in an easy double to give the Knicks a two-possession lead in the final minute. Sacramento never scored again and the Knicks earned a 98-91 victory, their third in a row and 40th overall this season.
“I saw him kind of looking before,” Brunson remarked to Fred Katz of The Athletic. “He turned his head one time or twice and then I just told Isaiah (Hartenstein) to come up, set the screen. He looked, and as soon as he turned, I went.”
“I’m just surveying the court and kind of just reacting. Once he turned his head, there’s no way he could (see it) — unless he’s a magician.”
Dr. Strange and his companions on Bleecker Street would have trouble stopping Brunson at this point: Brunson now stands alongside several hardwood Masters of the Mystic Arts, as a 42-point outing secured by bamboozling Ellis gave him at least 40 in consecutive games, previously picking up 45 in Thursday's win in Portland.
The only other Knickerbockers to pull off such a caper are Bernard King (four times), Carmelo Anthony, and Patrick Ewing (twice each) and Brunson needed only three singles at the free throw line to join them on Saturday.
Brunson previously scored 50 in a December win over Phoenix, mostly building that tally with a historic effort from three-point range (9-of-9, tied for the most tries without a miss in NBA history). This time around, though, most of Brunson's damage was done in the paint despite a 5-of-10 output from deep.
"To drive the ball as many times as he does, the physicality, he’s being trapped, they’re pursuing him, they’re hitting him, and he only had four free throws, (it's amazing)” head coach Tom Thibodeau said, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “But that’s what I love about him. He’s tough-minded, can figure it out and he knows how the game’s being called. He knows he’s on the road, it’s going to be tough, and that doesn’t slow him down. He doesn’t let the officials impact in any way.”
The latest instance of Brunson mastery comes as the Knicks (40-27) are closing on consecutive postseason appearances for the first time since 2011-13. New York will clinch no worse than a spot in the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament with either two more wins or a win and a Brooklyn Nets loss.
Inclusion among Knicks royalty is the latest accolade Brunson has earned this season: he already has two Player of the Week honors, as well his first All-Star Game nomination. All-NBA honors could come his way when all is said and done.
Kings head coach Mike Brown, however, perhaps had the most glamorous flowers to offer Brunson after watching his team banished to the Western Conference Play-In Tournament by the point guard's brilliance.
“Man, he’s a hell of a player," a breathless Brown declared, per Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. "I don’t know if — Steph (Curry) maybe — I don’t know if we’ve blitzed anybody as much as we did Jalen tonight. We tried to send two at him and he still scored 42 points.”
“Outside of JB, we did a great job,” Kings star De'Aaron Fox added, per Melissa Trieb of The Kings Herald. “He had almost half their points – so we have to do a better job of guarding their star player – but as a whole defensively, we did a pretty good job."
Sacramento will have another shot at Brunson when it visits Madison Square Garden on April 4. In the meantime, the Knicks continue a four-game Western swing against the Golden State Warriors on Monday night (10 p.m. ET, MSG/ESPN).
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