It wasn’t the Knicks’ best moment Tuesday when they attempted to end the Detroit’s season in Game 5.
The Knicks are now tasked with again hitting the road and going to the Motor City to face those pesky Pistons in Game 6 on Thursday, where Jalen Brunson is sure to be showered again with jeers.
And Detroit’s players are joining in on the flopping accusations.
“You flopping motherf–ker,” Jalen Duren could be seen telling Brunson as he stood over him during Detroit’s 106-103 win Tuesday night.
Brunson has drawn accusations of being a foul merchant from opposing fan bases and it has become a theme in this series.
Pistons wing Ausar Thompson called out Brunson for “selling fouls” after Detroit’s Game 1 loss.
The Pistons’ fans especially let him hear it with vulgar chants during Game 3, a Knicks win.
The data reveals Brunson has been getting to the free-throw line more this postseason, averaging 9.2 attempts per game compared to his career-high 6.9 average this past regular season.
Jalen Duren ccalls Jalen Brunson a ‘flopping motherf–ker’ after he goes to the ground. X, @NBACentral
Bruson on the floor while Duran talks to him. X, @NBACentralBrunson doesn’t see it that way, though.
“It’s part of the game,” Brunson said Tuesday morning at Knicks shootaround before Game 5. “When you have guys who are 6-foot-7, 6-foot-8, freak athletes, long arms, all that, they’re gonna use that to their advantage. My advantage, I feel like it’s my strength, is the way I’m able to use my footwork and play off-balance and just find different angles to attack. I don’t know how else to say it, but I like the way how I’m able to use my body to get off defenders and find ways to adapt.”
Jalen Brunson drives the lane against the Pistons. JASON SZENES/ NY POST
The Kniicks and PIstons have been getting chippy all series long. Charles Wenzelberg/New York PostDuren’s alleged comments to Brunson came while he towed over the Knicks guard, who was on the floor Tuesday.
The big man, who had his draft rights held by the Knicks for a short time during the 2022 festivities before being traded to Detroit, has been a key contributor for the Pistons in this series, averaging two blocks per game to go along with 10 points and 11.6 rebounds.
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Game 6 figures to be another physical style of basketball, as we’ve been accustomed to in this series with the last three games being decided by three points or less.
And it’s certainly possible the crowd may have it in for Brunson again.
