“Michael Jordan??”: Donte DiVincenzo Teases Jalen Brunson Over His Historic 40 Point Game Stretch

The New York Knicks are having a great time out there as they showcase their dominance in the playoffs. After an impressive Game 1 win at home against the Indiana Pacers, a hilarious interaction involving Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo during the postgame conference displayed the seamless off-court chemistry between the Knicks players.

During the presser, a reporter revealed to Brunson and DiVincenzo that the former had just become the first player since Michael Jordan to record four straight 40-point playoff games. Upon hearing the name “Michael Jordan”, DiVincenzo seemed to be in disbelief and decided to hype up his teammate. However, he was hilariously stopped, leaving everyone in the room in splits.

Reporter: “No one’s scored 40 in 4 games since Michael Jordan––”

Donte: “Michael Jordan?”

Jalen: “Stop”

Donte: “Damn”

Following the light-hearted interaction, Brunson went on to address the reporter’s question. The 27-year-old disclosed that he didn’t approach each game with the need to score 40+ points. Instead, his mindset was to make winning plays for every member present alongside him on the hardwood.

“I’m not going thinking that I need to score 40, that’s not my mindset at all. My mindset is to be aggressive, to make plays for myself and for others… It’s just a constant communication that we have and the trust that we have with each other,” Brunson said.

Jalen Brunson has picked up his form in the Eastern Conference Semifinals right from where he had left it in the first-round series. Playing for nearly 44 minutes, the Southpaw stuffed the stat sheet with 43 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists, in the first game of the series at Madison Square Garden.

Before the Knicks-Pacers series began, analysts and enthusiasts had picked the latter to win the matchup due to their superior frontcourt. With Julius Randle out with injuries, the Pacers’ Pascal Siakam-Myles Turner-Aaron Nesmith trio was expected to dominate the paint. However, the Knicks didn’t allow the absence of their big men be any kind of a disadvantage to the team.

Josh Hart and OG Anunoby stepped up big time, leading the New York side to outrebound the lengthy Pacers. Additionally, Tom Thibodeau’s boys also allowed the Indiana side to record merely 6 more points in the paint than them.

With Jalen Brunson keeping up his impressive level of production, such performances from Hart, Anunoby, and DiVincenzo could very well lead the Knicks to clinch a series win.

Following their series win against Joel Embiid and co., several fans and analysts began picking the Knicks to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Charles Oakley, a Knicks legend, also extended his support, while claiming that Brunson was the best Knick since Walt Frazier.

“[Jalen] Brunson, I’m telling you, Brunson’s the best thing since Walt Frazier. I know somebody gonna say, ‘What about Patrick [Ewing] and Carmelo [Anthony]?’ Okay, they didn’t do this…Brunson’s playing without Julius (Randle), and what he’s doing man, hey, it’s incredible. Keep doing it,” Oakley said.

While it is debatable whether Jalen Brunson should be ranked higher than Patrick Ewing or Carmelo Anthony, it is safe to state that the Knicks can only go as far as their star point guard will take them. As of now, with the form that he’s showing, the Conference Finals don’t look too far.