Jalen Brunson Stops Himself From Unleashing On Charles Barkley On Live TV Following Comments On Tom Thibodeau’s Coaching

After two underwhelming clutch performances, the New York Knicks stormed back to life in the Eastern Conference Finals. They came back from 20 points down in Game 3 earlier today to clinch a win in Indiana, after dropping the first two at home. Funnily enough, after being criticized all playoffs long for his lack of rotations, it was Tom Thibodeau’s uncharacteristic decision to go deep into his bench that sparked the comeback for the away side. And star man Jalen Brunson reminded Thibs’ critics of the same.

Deuce McBride, Landry Shamet, and Delon Wright all logged more than 10 minutes in Game 3, and it was these three who somehow sparked the Knicks’ miraculous comeback. McBride finished the game with a +7 net rating, Shamet a +12, and Wright a +2, despite the trio combining for only 14 points.

After the final buzzer, Brunson, who had an uncharacteristically off night (scoring 23), spoke to TNT, and things heated up between him and Charles Barkley.

See, Chuck had gone on record before the game questioning Thibs’ tactics and personnel decisions. He criticized his inability to trust his bench with minutes throughout his coaching career.

While speaking to Brunson, Barkley, once again, made a snide remark on how it was ironic that the Knicks’ bench kick-started their comeback against Indiana. Calling the whole thing “wacky”, the Hall of Famer asked Brunson if Thibs ever explained his decisions to the team.

“What the hell is up with Thibs, man? Y’all bench technically won this game for y’all tonight,” he said. “Does he ever explain to y’all, cos you got to admit, it’s kind of damn wacky.”

While Chuck said this with an audible chuckle in his voice, Brunson didn’t look too pleased. He seemed ready to fire back with something scathing but stopped himself at the last minute and simply said, “Ooh, I had a great comeback, but let me stop.”