The star guard, recently honored as the 2025 Clutch Player of the Year for his decisive regular season performances, has elevated his game in the postseason. On Monday night at MSG, Brunson spearheaded the Knicks’ second-half rally, erasing an 11-point halftime deficit en route to a 121-113 victory. In that contest, he tallied 39 points and dished out 12 assists, with 26 of his points coming in the second half, igniting a frenzy in the Garden.
Despite recording only eight points in the fourth quarter during that win—slightly lowering his average for that period—Brunson has still amassed a staggering 102 fourth-quarter points in just the first 10 playoff games. This output eclipses the figures set by Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry, marking the most for a postseason start since 1997. For context, Bryant had two separate 100-point bursts in the first 10 games during 2001 and 2003, plus a 99-point pace in 2008, while Curry matched 99 points in the opening 10 games of the 2023 playoffs.
Across the Knicks’ series against Detroit and Boston, Brunson has shouldered a significant scoring load, particularly in the game’s final stretch. What makes his performance even more remarkable is his ability to create his own shots. While roughly 52% of his three-pointers come from assists, a mere 9.5% of his two-point efforts are assisted, underscoring his self-sufficiency inside the arc.
Moreover, Brunson leads this postseason in time of possession, holding the ball for an impressive 96 minutes according to NBA Stats—20 minutes more than the nearest competitor, Jamal Murray, who logged 76 minutes. His overall usage rate stands at 31.6%, but it leaps to an eye-popping 42.4% in the fourth quarter, outpacing all players except Giannis Antetokounmpo.
This increased responsibility has not hindered his efficiency. His true shooting percentage climbs from 55.2% overall to 60% in the fourth quarter, and his assist-to-turnover ratio nearly doubles from 2.96-1 to 5.33-1 during that decisive period. Considering Brunson’s stature as a 6-foot-2 guard—hardly imposing by conventional standards—the fact that opposing teams have found no effective way to slow him down is a testament to his prowess.
Brunson’s clutch performances are a natural outgrowth of a Knicks strategy that refuses to pull away from opponents early. Instead, New York intentionally drags teams into an even 48-minute battle, enduring early lulls and scoring droughts while betting on their rivals tiring out over time. When forced into a shootout against an opposing star, Brunson consistently emerges as the superior performer.
In just 10 games, Brunson has orchestrated one of the most impressive clutch scoring runs in playoff history, proving that his postseason heroics may well be the key to unlocking New York’s deep playoff run.