It’s not often Paul Pierce admits he’s wrong. But he was wrong about Jalen Brunson and has owned up to it.
Pierce had a bet that the Knicks wouldn’t make it past the first round and that Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid had the team covered.
The Celtics champion had Maxey and Embiid as the top two players in the series, with Brunson as his third-best.
He has now realized he was gravely mistaken.
“First off, I like to say sorry to the Knicks and Jalen Brunson because I’ve shown them no respect,” Pierce said on Undisputed. “But after this [first-round win], my hat off to them. I didn’t see this coming Skip (Bayless), I really didn’t. When I looked at the series before it started, I thought Philadelphia just had too much manpower for the short-handed Knicks.”
Brunson took the Knicks on his back since the team’s other main offensive player, Julius Randle, was out for the entire series.
“Did I know that Jalen Brunson was going to play well?” Pierce said. “I thought he would play well. I didn’t know he was going to play this well.”
He continued, “I’m still stunned. Truthfully that a guy like Jalen Brunson who’s had a great year, phenomenal year should be on the All-NBA First Team arguably. You can make a case for that right now. Jalen Brunson is probably the most dominant player, he’s the best player in the playoffs right now. I mean not the best player but he’s playing the best.”
The Knicks guard had an outstanding postseason and is averaging the highest PPG (35.5) of any player in the playoffs after the first round.
His next challenge will against the Pacers and their best scorer Tyrese Haliburton.
If New York does make it deep into the postseason, expect Brunson to be a firm Finals MVP candidate.
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