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Jalen Brunson Highlights Importance of Longtime Knicks Player In Playoffs

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ashish Mathur | Last updated May 21, 2025 1:43 PM ET

The New York Knicks are in the conference finals for the first time since 2000. They are four wins away from reaching the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

The Knicks face the Indiana Pacers in the conference finals. It's a rematch of last year's conference semifinals, a series the Pacers won in seven games.

The headliners in this series are Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner.

However, the Knicks and Pacers have strong role players who have played well in the playoffs, helping their respective teams do the dirty work.

On the latest episode of his podcast with Hart, Brunson praised Knicks center Mitchell Robinson, who has played well in the postseason on both ends of the court.

"Mitch is a game changer," Brunson said. "Just the way he’s got himself back, got his body right, and the way he’s playing now. You can’t put it into words. You’re happy for him because it’s tough being out, being hurt for such a long time, getting procedures done, being on the block apparently. You just never know.

"It’s easy to check out as a human when all that’s going on. The fact that he stayed locked in, got himself right, and now he’s helping us at the most crucial time, man, it’s unbelievable. Hats off to him.”

The Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics to reach the conference finals. Robinson, who has spent his entire career with New York, is averaging 4.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 0.4 blocks in this year's postseason while shooting 50.0% from the field.

Robinson will be tasked with guarding Turner in the Knicks-Pacers series. For New York to beat Indiana, Robinson will have to outplay Turner.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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