The Knicks are better than they have been in decades, and the city has fallen for the team’s unassuming but sharpshooting point guard.

As I’ve written before, you can make a pretty strong argument that Jalen Brunson, only three years into his Knicks career, is the most universally beloved New York City athlete of the last 25 years. That may be true because of a slight technicality: Though the city has split loyalties in baseball,

Jalen Brunson was being picked on defensively by the Indiana Pacers and picked apart by pundits for his ball-dominant game as the New York Knicks returned home to Madison Square Garden on Thursday, one loss from having their best season in 25 years end with a whimper.