Once again, Tom Thibodeau isn’t happy with how Jalen Brunson is being handled by the refs.
“What goes on with him is ridiculous,” the Knicks coach said after his team’s 99-95 win over the Nets on Tuesday in Brooklyn. “It really is. I’ll leave it at that.”
Brunson went to the line for four free throws against the Nets, significantly fewer than that of his typical outing — for the season, the point guard averages 7.1 attempts per game.
Thibodeau was particularly baffled by the lack of a call on Brunson’s final shot — a missed drive — that came with the Knicks up 97-95 with 32.1 seconds left.
Had Brunson received a foul call (or hit the shot, of course), he would have had the chance to put the Knicks up four.
Instead, the Nets had a chance to take the lead on their ensuing possession, which became a missed 3-pointer by Cam Johnson.
“That last play on the drive, I don’t know,” Thibodeau said. “I send clips in. I do it all.”
Asked what answers he’s received from the league when he relays issues about how Brunson is being officiated, Thibodeau replied: “My thing is I just want consistency. It’s obvious what happened on that drive. … I don’t know what the discrepancy in the free throws was but it was big. It was big. And we’re attacking the basket. I’m watching [Karl-Anthony Towns] go, I’m watching Jalen go — the contact, a foul’s a foul.
“A guy gets fouled, you’ve got to call it. It’s your job.”
The Nets took 25 free throws to the Knicks’ 14.
Still, Brunson was also responsible for eight of the Knicks’ final 10 points down the stretch as they held off the Nets.
“He did exactly what the cap does — put the cape on,” Towns said, referring to Brunson’s captaincy. “We know how special he is. He lives for those moments.”
The Knicks will find out on Thursday night if they have two, one or zero All-Star starters.
Towns is seemingly a lock to start in the frontcourt with Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Boston’s Jayson Tatum, as he ranked a comfortable third in the latest voting round.
Brunson was fourth in the latest backcourt voting but within striking distance of Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball (first), Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell (second) and Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard (third).
The starters are determined by 50 percent fan vote, 25 percent player vote and 25 percent media vote.