NBA Finals 2026: Is Knicks' Jalen Brunson authoring the most clutch playoff run in NBA history?
A noted Major League Baseball sabermetrics publication once argued that clutch performances were a myth, before there were enough statistics to prove otherwise.
We always thought they existed, since we'd seen time and time again athletes come through when it mattered most, often more so than they did in less opportune times. It was not random. Instead, they summoned something within them under pressure.
But we know New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson is clutch. Not just because we have seen it, game after game, year after year. Not just because he won the NBA's Clutch Player of the Year award in 2025. But because the numbers tell us he's clutch.
"With the ball in his hands," said teammate Karl-Anthony Towns, "I'm never surprised."
Case in point: Brunson scored 13 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter, including five back-breaking points in the final two minutes, of a 105-95 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Wednesday's opener of the 2026 NBA Finals. The performance increased his clutch points total over the past four years to 144, more than anyone.
For his playoff career (82 games since the 2020-21 season), Brunson has averaged 1.47 points per minute in the clutch on 63.4% true shooting. By comparison, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 0.96 points per minute led this past year's regular season on 66.5% true shooting.
Brunson is averaging 9.5 points per fourth quarter during New York's dominant playoff run. Only five players in the play-by-play era (since 1996) have averaged more fourth-quarter points into the conference semifinals or beyond. One was Brunson in 2024, when he averaged 10.1 points per fourth quarter before a second-round defeat. The others: Dirk Nowitzki (9.9, 2011), LeBron James (9.8, 2006), Kobe Bryant (9.6, 2003) and Michael Jordan (9.6, 1997). Only Dirk and Jordan did it en route to an NBA Finals.
Brunson is doing what only Nowitzki did on one of the most magical championship runs in NBA history and what MJ did on his way to the fifth of six titles. Mind-blowing.
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Oh, and he's scoring those 9.5 points per fourth quarter on 59/62/93 shooting splits.
"He's a gamer, man," said Knicks head coach Mike Brown. "In the biggest moments, he shows up, and that's what MVPs are supposed to do. We put the ball in his hands and said, 'We are going to live and die with him.' And he got it done for us, and that's happened time after time after time. He got to his spots, and he made plays."
What makes Brunson even more impressive, other than the fact he's 6-foot-2: It's not like the Knicks have always needed him to be this good. Brunson has rested for the entirety of four fourth quarters, as the Knicks have logged a record four 30-point blowouts in these playoffs, and 10 of New York's 12 consecutive wins have come by double digits.
Brunson's 8.3 minutes per fourth quarter are 42nd among players in these playoffs. He is scoring 0.587 points per fourth-quarter possession, most among NBA regulars. Gilgeous-Alexander, the league's back-to-back MVP and reigning Clutch Player of the Year, averaged 0.551 points a fourth-quarter possession in the regular season.
Brunson's 0.587 points per fourth-quarter possession are a single-season record for the play-by-play era (minimum 10 games played). Only five players since the 1996-97 season have even averaged 0.5 points per fourth-quarter possession in the playoffs.
Brunson has done it three times.
Would it be crazy to call this Brunson run the most clutch in NBA history? If only his production in the fourth quarter met the NBA's definition of clutch (when games are within five points in the final five minutes). As it stands, Brunson has played only 21.1 minutes of official clutch time in five games, since the Knicks have been so dominant.
In those minutes, Brunson has scored 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting, converting each of his three 3-point attempts and both free throws. He has been absolutely electric.
In the opener of the 2026 NBA Finals, Brunson, of course, drilled two of the game's biggest shots, both ridiculous — a corner 3-pointer to put the Knicks on top, 97-94, with less than two minutes remaining, and a wild floater to put a bow on the victory.
"He's still underrated in the league," said Josh Hart, "and he keeps proving people wrong, game by game, series by series, playoff appearance by playoff appearance."
Keep it up for a few more games in this series, and Brunson might finally be properly rated, as the author of the single-most clutch playoff performance in NBA history.
