Knicks’ Jalen Brunson named finalist for Clutch Player of the Year

Captain Clutch always delivers!

New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson pushed hard to make a late regular-season comeback in time to play enough games to qualify for end-of-season awards, and the effort paid off on Sunday as he earned a deserved nomination.

Following the Knicks’ win over the Pistons in Game 1 of their first-round series, Brunson notched his second (semi) win of the postseason as the NBA announced the Knicks’ extraordinaire as one of three finalists for the 2024–25 Clutch Player of the Year award.

The announcement came just 24 hours after Brunson delivered another signature performance with some late-game heroics, scoring 12 of his game-high 34 points in the final 8:30 of Saturday night’s Game 1 playoff win over the Detroit Pistons.

The Knicks trailed by eight entering the fourth quarter but rode Brunson’s surge—and a certain out-of-left-field Cam Payne explosion—to a 123–112 victory and a 1–0 series lead.

The NBA defines “clutch” time as the last five minutes of a game with the score within five points. This season, Brunson led the league in clutch scoring, averaging 5.6 points while shooting over 51 percent from the field and committing just 0.3 turnovers per game in those scenarios.

Overall, Brunson wrapped up the regular season averaging 26 points and a career-high 7.3 assists per game as the Knicks coatsed to the No. 3 seed and 51 wins.

The Clutch Player of the Year award, introduced in 2023 and named after Jerry West, is determined by a panel of 100 media voters. Brunson is joined by Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards as this year’s finalists.

Former Sacramento Kings demon De’Aaron Fox won the inaugural award, with Golden State Warriors living legend Stephen Curry claiming it last season.

The Knicks will host Detroit in Game 2 on Monday night at Madison Square Garden, and the NBA will announce the winners of this season’s awards through the postseason.