Jalen Brunson authored a playoff moment for the ages on Thursday night, draining several big buckets down the stretch to rally the New York Knicks past the Detroit Pistons and into the second round of the NBA Playoffs. The last of those buckets came with under five seconds remaining, when Brunson shook off Pistons wing Ausar Thompson to free himself up for the game-winning 3.
But Thompson deserves much better than to be remembered as the guy who couldn't get the decisive stop. In reality, he was consistently Detroit's best option defending Brunson one-on-one in this series, including Game 6. Want proof? Just ask Brunson himself.
Thompson is a unique physical specimen, and his combination of length, quickness and toughness bothered Brunson in a way that Dennis Schroder, Malik Beasley or anyone else the Pistons threw at him could. But while Brunson, the Knicks and everybody watching knew that Thompson was making life singularly difficult for New York's lead guard, the one person who apparently didn't was the one person who mattered most: head coach JB Bickerstaff.
Despite a readily apparent all-court impact, Bickerstaff stubbornly refused to give his young wing full run all series long. He once again messed with Thompson's playing time on Thursday, and it's the single biggest reason his team is heading home right now instead of heading back to New York.
JB Bickerstaff benching Ausar Thompson keyed Knicks' late comeback in Game 6
Bickerstaff brought Thompson into the game with 9:30 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Pistons trailing, 100-89. Almost immediately, the tide turned: New York made just one of its next 10 field goals and turned the ball over four times, while Detroit turned that 11-point deficit into a stunning five-point lead.
And then, for some reason, Bickerstaff went away from what was working. After sinking a free throw to give the Pistons a 110-105 advantage, Thompson was subbed out of the game in favor of Schroder, likely to give Detroit another sure ball-handler as they looked to nurse their lead.
But all taking Thompson out really did was make Brunson's eyes light up. With his toughest matchup now on the bench, he wasted no time attacking the basket, going right at Schroder for an and-one and then a layup to trim the Pistons lead back down to just two. Bickerstaff brought Thompson back into the game at the 1:23 mark, but by then, the damage had already been done: It was back to a one-possession game, and New York made the crucial plays late to win.
Thompson is by no means a perfect player at this point in his career, especially on offense. But what he costs you in spacing he more than makes up for with his ability to smother people on the other end of the court; Brunson is a master at generating space with his strength and footwork, but even he was having a hard time getting Thompson out from under his jersey.
That is, until the final possession, when a great player simply made a great play.
Bickerstaff was given clear evidence of what his best five was in that moment. He ignored it, though, and now Pistons fans will just have to hope he's learned his lesson for next time.