Jalen Brunson non-contact injury sends Knicks fans into panic mode

Things were going so well for the New York Knicks, until they weren't. The Knicks were playing as well as they have in years and were fighting for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference before the injuries started.

Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, and Mitchell Robinson, the team's second, third, and fourth-best players have all been sidelined long-term due to injuries, and their one shining light, Jalen Brunson had been holding them together. From the looks of things, it appeared as if he might have been joining that star-studded trio on the sidelines as the latest injured Knick.

Within the first minute in what is a crucial game against the Cavaliers, Brunson appeared to hurt his left leg on a jump shot in non-contact fashion, which looked like horrific news for the Knicks.

Jalen Brunson is the latest Knicks player to go down with injury

Brunson has quickly become one of the more beloved Knicks players in franchise history with what he's done in his two years with the team. Brunson led them to the second round of the playoffs last season and stepped his game up even further, positioning the team to potentially make it to the Conference Finals or even the NBA Finals if things went their way, but if this injury is severe, that might be all she wrote on that front.

Brunson is the heart and soul of this Knicks team. He entered Sunday's game averaging 27.7 points per game on 47.7/40.7/84.6 splits to go along with 3.8 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game. He was an All-Star for the first time and looked like a legitimate MVP candidate for much of the year.

Things were hard enough for the Knicks without Randle, Anunoby, and Robinson, but with no Brunson things could have gotten really bad in a hurry.

Fortunately for Knicks fans, it appears that the team has avoided the worst. ESPN's Malika Andrews reported that Brunson is questionable to return with a sore left knee. He might not return to Sunday's game, but he probably wouldn't be listed as questionable to return if the injury was extremely severe.

However, Fred Katz of The Athletic later noted that Brunson was ruled out, though the "sore left knee" diagnosis remained the same.

Knicks fans immediately expected the worst when they saw that their star could not put weight on his left leg, but can now breathe a sigh of relief as Brunson's injury appears to be relatively minor.