As if it weren't there already, Jalen Brunson permanently etched his name into New York Knicks lore on Thursday night. It looked like the Knicks were dead in the water in Game 6 of their first-round series against the Detroit Pistons: a double-digit fourth-quarter lead had turned into a seven-point deficit with just three minutes remaining, and suddenly New York was staring down the prospect of heading back to Madison Square Garden for a Game 7 in a series it once lead 3-1.
And then Brunson took over. Four quick points brought the Knicks right back into the game, and after a Mikal Bridges putback tied the game in the final minute, New York got the ball again with the chance to hold for one final shot. From there, Brunson more than lived up to his recent Clutch Player of the Year award ā and inspired legendary Knicks broadcaster Mike Breen to go where he so rarely does.
Jalen Brunson earns the rarest call in basketball: the Mike Breen double bang
Breen's "Bang!" has become among the defining calls in all of North American sports, the punctuation to nearly every iconic moment in recent basketball history. But while the bang is a relatively common occurrence, Breen saves its close relative, the double bang, for only the most special occasions.
By most calculations, Breen has only blessed us with the double bang eight times during his career as a national NBA broadcaster, most recently after Jaylen Brown's tying 3 in the final seconds of regulation during Game 1 of last year's Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers. That count got bumped up to nine on Thursday night, as Brunson's big shot brought out the very best in Breen.
While most NBA fans know Breen as the lead commentator for ESPN, he's a New York native and Fordham grad who grew up a Knicks fan and has served as the voice of the MSG Network since 2004. He bleeds orange and blue, and while he wasn't on the national call for Thursday night's game (Ian Eagle called the game for TNT), he was still there alongside Clyde Frazier to give Knicks fans the ideal soundtrack to one of the best moments in franchise history.