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The New York Knicks held their collective breath during the first quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night after All-Star guard Jalen Brunson suffered an injury scare against the San Antonio Spurs.
Spurs reserve Harrison Barnes accidentally collided with Brunson’s right knee while falling to the floor, and the Knicks star immediately grabbed at the leg in apparent pain.
Brunson signaled to the bench and headed to the locker room after checking out of the game. He later returned to the bench but had not re-entered the contest as of publication.
It goes without saying how much Brunson, who has averaged 26.9 points and 6.6 assists in these playoffs, means for the Knicks.
But a sigh of relief was likely exhaled when Brunson returned to the bench. He didn’t immediately come back into the game, though, as he looked on in his warmup as trainers were trying to see if he would wear a knee brace.
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Brunson eventually checked back into the game, but the injury scare wasn’t over.
On a drive with his left hand, he threw up a high floater that went through the nylon, but he seemed to roll his left ankle after landing on the court. It also didn’t help that center Luke Kornet stepped on the same ankle.
Brunson came up limping and livid, walking over to referee Scott Foster and saying his piece, believing he was fouled and deserved a shot at the charity stripe.
After a short timeout, Brunson didn’t go back to the locker room or the bench. He remained on the court and started to find some rhythm.
Both teams are looking for a healthy seven-game series, but the Knicks seeing their best scorer heading off the court early isn’t the way the Eastern Conference champions wanted to kick off their first trip to the NBA Finals since 1999 against these same Spurs.
Brunson didn’t have a good start to this game, knocking down his opening three-pointer to begin the game and going 0-of-6 from there in the first quarter.
At time of publication, Brunson is 5-of-15 for 11 points with three rebounds and two assists.
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