The Boston Celtics are unable to find a grip, to finish the regular season with a couple of wins. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had back-to-back off games against the Milwaukee Bucks and the New York Knicks. However, that does not take away what Jalen Brunson is doing for his team. The 6’2 point guard hit daggers and floaters all over the court to put the 1st seed Celtics to sleep with a 39-point performance. This impressive display pushed Houston Rockets legend Kenny Smith to make a bold claim about Brunson on live television.

After Brunson finished the first half with 18 points, Smith shared, “Brunson has been the best basketball player in the Eastern Conference. By far.” There are reasons why Smith believes so. He shared, “The New York Knicks have a light at the end of the tunnel…The New York Knicks are the most surprising team to me in basketball right now. They should be at number six seed without Julius Randle. OG missed games.”

Brunson has carried all the above weight single-handedly for quite a long time. He will be entering the playoffs with the same load. Analysts are stunned at what the Knicks have managed to pull off towards the end of the season, and they are excepting the same in the playoffs. 

Smith gave Brunson and the Knicks their credits when it was due. However, if we tune a bit back to December, Smith had a totally different perspective of the Knicks.

Kenny Smith’s contrasting take about the Knicks during the In-Season tournament 

Smith does not want two best players on the same team. Like the Celtics with Tatum and Brown, the Knicks have Brunson and Julius Randle. Smith believes if there are two best players on the court, it’s tough to figure things out. He said in December, “This is why the Knicks are going to stay in the middle. Every game that they play, they always have the second-best player…You play Orlando, there is no player better than Banchero…Indiana Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton is the best player on the floor.”

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He further chose Jimmy Butler for the Miami Heat and Donovan Mitchell for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Warned By Doctors, Knicks Star Julius Randle Escapes Permanent Damage With Season-Ending Injury Update

While this is a contrasting take from Smith, we should also know that Randle has been sidelined for the last 34 games. Without Randle, Brunson, Josh Hart, and DiVincenzo have won 19 games and lost 15. So is Smith making sense here? Is it bad to have two best players on the court? We’ll see in the playoffs soon. 

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