Jalen Brunson breaks hand in Game 7, laments end of Knicks' run - ESPN

NEW YORK — As he sat at the podium, his left hand and wrist immobilized after suffering a fracture in a season-ending 130-109 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden, New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson was asked if this season was a success.

«No,» he said, flatly.

Asked later why that was the case, he responded, «Did we win the championship? Did we get close?»

After a pause, he continued, «So, no. That's my mindset.

»That's just how it is."

That could also apply to Brunson's injury, which occurred in the third quarter — when, he said, he said he swiped down at Tyrese Haliburton and felt something in his hand.

After a brief trip to the locker room, Brunson returned to the court for another 14 seconds, before checking back out with 3:02 to go in the third quarter and heading to the locker room for what would become the rest of both the game and New York's season.

«I thought I just jammed it, to be honest with you,» Brunson said of briefly checking back into the game, only to leave again. «I looked down and knew something was wrong.»

For Brunson, it was a frustrating end — on both a personal and team level — to what has been a fabulous season, one that included him finishing fifth in the NBA's Most Valuable Player voting earlier this month. He finished with an average of 32.4 points per game across his 13 played in this postseason — second only to Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, whom he vanquished in the first round of these playoffs.

But after dealing with a foot injury earlier in this series, he and the Knicks fell short against an Indiana team that set a new NBA record for a playoff game by shooting 67.1 percent from the field in Game 7, per ESPN's Stats and Information research.

«I would say