Basketball
NBA: Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, Bojan Bogdanovic undergo surgeries
New York Knicks star guard Jalen Brunson and forward Bojan Bogdanovic underwent surgeries to repair their respective injuries and will be re-evaluated in six to eight weeks, the team announced Wednesday.
Brunson fractured his left hand during Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the visiting Indiana Pacers on Sunday. He said he was hurt when his hand hit Tyrese Haliburton as the Pacers’ guard went up for a layup in the third quarter.
The Knicks trailed 92-74 when Brunson departed and eventually lost 130-109 to Indiana, which advanced to the conference finals to play the Boston Celtics.
Brunson recorded 17 points and nine assists in 29 minutes before his departure. He was averaging 31.8 points per game in the series entering Sunday after pouring in 35.5 per contest in the first-round series victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Brunson had an epic postseason and became the fourth player in NBA playoff history to score 40 or more points in four consecutive games. Jerry West reached that mark a record six straight times in 1965. Bernard King (1984) and Michael Jordan (1993) did it in four straight contests.
Brunson, 27, recorded career-high averages in points (28.7) and assists (6.7) in 77 games (all starts) this season.
Bogdanovic, 35, had surgery on his left wrist. He also is due to have surgery on his left foot.
In 29 regular-season games, after joining the Knicks from the Detroit Pistons, Bogdanovic averaged 10.4 points with 2.0 rebounds and was shooting 37 percent from 3-point range.
In 10 NBA seasons, for six different organizations, Bogdanovic has averaged 15.6 points and 3.6 rebounds over 719 games (572 starts).
–Field Level Media/ Reuters