Jalen Brunson and the father-coach connection that brought a long-sought star point guard to New York

IT'S MARCH 31 and the revitalized New York Knicks are in Cleveland to face the equally upstart Cavaliers. The stakes are high. New York, at 44-33, sits four games behind the Cavs in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings. But tonight's showdown offers more than just another checkmark at the end of a long 82-game schedule. The Knicks, who at this point have already won two of three over the Cavs this season, have a chance to send another message to the team they are expected to face in the first round of the playoffs a few weeks from now.

Inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the crowd rumbles with anticipation.

The game doesn't disappoint, a relentless back-and-forth featuring a Knicks team playing without All-Star forward Julius Randle. At the center of it all are two explosive, dynamic guards — Donovan Mitchell and… former 2018 second-round pick Jalen Brunson.

The 26-year-old, a revelation in his first season in New York, scores a career-high 48 points and leads the Knicks to a rousing 130-116 win. It's a performance so impressive even the stoic curmudgeon Tom Thibodeau has no choice but to crack a grin.

Minutes after the buzzer, Brunson stands in the middle of a crowded hallway in the bowels of the arena as chipper Knicks personnel prepare the bus for the trip to the airport. Wearing a bracelet adorned with his favorite mantra, he smiles, too.

On the surface, the two have formed the unlikeliest of partnerships — an old-school, defense-first coach with a small, offense-first point guard. But the pair knows the basketball truth — that their paths were destined to cross.

«I think being around him for a long time, knowing the trust that my dad has in him, I've been around it,» Brunson told ESPN. «I've been around