New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson fractured his left hand during Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the visiting Indiana Pacers on Sunday and was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
Brunson said he was hurt when his hand hit Tyrese Haliburton as the Pacers’ guard went up for a layup in the third quarter.
“I thought I just jammed it, to be honest with you,” said Brunson, who briefly returned before exiting for good. “I looked down and knew something was wrong.”
The Knicks trailed 92-74 when Brunson departed and eventually lost 130-109 to Indiana, which advanced to the Eastern Conference finals to play the Boston Celtics.
The Knicks trailed by double digits early in the fourth quarter when the team announced Brunson’s injury.
Brunson recorded 17 points and nine assists in 29 minutes before his departure. He was averaging 31.8 points per game in the series entering Sunday after pouring in 35.5 per game in the first-round series victory over Philadelphia.
Brunson had an epic postseason and became the fourth player in NBA playoff history to score 40 or more points in four consecutive games. Jerry West reached that mark a record six straight times in 1965. Bernard King (1984) and Michael Jordan (1993) did it in four straight contests.
The Knicks were already dealing with a long list of injuries. OG Anunoby and Josh Hart returned for Game 7 after Anunoby suffered a left hamstring strain in Game 2 of the series and Hart sustained an abdominal strain in Game 6. The team has also been without Julius Randle (shoulder) and Mitchell Robinson (ankle).
