Latest / Bleacher Report / Jalen Brunson & Karl-Anthony Towns Talk Loss vs. Pacers in the ECF _ 2025 NBA Playoffs

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Jalen Brunson & Karl-Anthony Towns Talk Loss vs. Pacers in the ECF _ 2025 NBA Playoffs · Bleacher Report

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: For either one of you.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: Obviously only two teams can go to the finals, but
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: for you guys to lose this game in the fashion
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: to Son, it kind of some uncharacteristic things that we
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: haven't seen much from this group this year. How much
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: does the way you guys lost it kind of kind
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: of sting the most.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Sucks man, simple as that sucks m.
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: You guys obviously had a roller coaster ride of a
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: season from preseason injuries, trades, just guys going down into
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: the lineup to get to the conference finals. Beat Boston
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: in the second round, obviously didn't get the result that
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: you wanted to not go and not winning tonight, But
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: just how do you characterize what you guys were able
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: to accomplish this year.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure the accomplish is the word that we
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: were gonna use here, but I think the way this
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: team progressed this year is for me, it was fun
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: because there's a lot of a lot of people saying
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: we couldn't do a lot of things, a lot of uh,
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: a lot of negativity around what we were trying to accomplish,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: and the way we just kind of put blinders on
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: and went to work, that's one most proud of with
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: this team, and that's right. Yeah, I'm just proud of
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: how we kind of saved the course. Obviously, like you said,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: not win tonight and being knocked out, but just proud,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: just proud of our guys, simple as up. Yeah.
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: I know it's tough for you, the one of you, right,
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: you to think long term in this. But when you
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: when they made some of the moves of the summer
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: that was talking of the window that you know, the
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: ages and stuff matching up this group that they brought in,
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: can you see this as a first step for you guys?
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Uh, you know, you make the moves to win, so uh,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: it hurts.
• 2:00
  Speaker 5: It hurts to be able not to bring an opportunity
• 2:05
  Speaker 5: to the city for a championship. We got a bunch
• 2:11
  Speaker 5: of great guys in that locker room, and you know,
• 2:15
  Speaker 5: we hope to the plan now is to just put
• 2:19
  Speaker 5: ourselves in this position again and succeed next time.
• 2:23
  Speaker 6: I guess along those same lines obviously in the moment
• 2:27
  Speaker 6: you said it sucks firsthand. Most teams kind of in
• 2:33
  Speaker 6: their evolutions and stuff like that, there are building blocks.
• 2:36
  Speaker 6: You guys made it a step further than what the
• 2:38
  Speaker 6: Knicks did last year. If there is a window, like,
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: are there positives that you feel like you can take
• 2:45
  Speaker 6: from it as you kind of step back just a
• 2:47
  Speaker 6: little bit. Are there things that you could look at
• 2:49
  Speaker 6: now even and then do.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: That at this very moment. No, but eventually, Yeah, we
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: can look at stuff and see the positives, but not
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: right now. Jalen.
• 3:01
  Speaker 7: Uh, you know, in terms of what Kat just said,
• 3:04
  Speaker 7: you know, you make the moves to win. There are
• 3:06
  Speaker 7: obviously a lot of big moves this offseason. How confident
• 3:10
  Speaker 7: are you that this group has enough to take that
• 3:12
  Speaker 7: next step?
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: And uh the most confidence over confident? Seriously, I I
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: don't there's not a ounce of any type of doubt
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: that I'm not confident with this group.
• 3:31
  Speaker 8: Yeah, Jalen and and Carl for both of you guys,
• 3:36
  Speaker 8: obviously first season together. How do you think you guys
• 3:40
  Speaker 8: developed as a duo over the course of this season,
• 3:42
  Speaker 8: and what do you think the potential is moving forward?
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think we we definitely grew. It's a lot
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: of fun playing with cap Man. It's it's it's Uh,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: I've realized that, Uh, there are a lot of I
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: think I talked about this morning about the narratives and
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: what people say about other people and how people perceive
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: us as players, and we only see from Afar, from
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: other teams, and so when he came here, man, he's
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: one of the best teammates. It's one of the guys
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: that come in, does his work, does everything he can
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: to be ready to go to games. Definitely a little goofy,
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: but I mean this, this dude has been He's been
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: great to play with, a lot of fun to play with.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: And uh, it's just stuck that we're gonna get done tonight.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: But I mean I got a lot of faith in him.
• 4:37
  Speaker 9: What your experience, I mean, you know, you being able
• 4:45
  Speaker 9: to watch Jalen from Afar, you know in the West
• 4:47
  Speaker 9: and and just see what he's done and what he's
• 4:49
  Speaker 9: done for the city.
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: It's it's even it's even more crazier in person when
• 4:57
  Speaker 5: you watch it in person. Wait, the way he works
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: on the court, and you know, uh, JB's uh one
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: of those teammates that when he steps in the building,
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: you know he raises everyone's energy, morale. And very few
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: people I've ever played with had that kind of intangibles
• 5:13
  Speaker 5: that he has. And we're not even talking about playing basketball.
• 5:16
  Speaker 5: I mean, I think we all know he's my opinion,
• 5:19
  Speaker 5: one of the one of the best in the league.
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: And to be able to watch him go to work
• 5:24
  Speaker 5: every night and to be his teammate.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: I don't say this lightly.
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: It's it's a blessing and it's an honor that I
• 5:34
  Speaker 5: get to play with Jalen Brunson, you know, and to
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: be in my career to be able to say that,
• 5:39
  Speaker 5: you know, I've been honored to play with 'em. A
• 5:42
  Speaker 5: lot of great teammates, but JB's he's he's one of
• 5:46
  Speaker 5: the top of the lists for me, you know, best teammates,
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: best basketball players I've ever got to play with one
• 5:51
  Speaker 5: and two.
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: One of the best teammates I've had two. Two quick
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: ones for me. Obviously, four point game at the half.
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: Just what happened to come out of the half that
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: allowed them to kind of open up the game and
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: then Siakam wins Conference finals MVP. Just what made him
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: such a difficult cover for whoever it was to.
• 6:06
  Speaker 5: Take it just came out at halftime, you know, just
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: you know, we did to shoot the ball.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: Well, they got some leakouts.
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: They you know, they found way, they found a way
• 6:19
  Speaker 5: to win, and we didn't respond with the firepower that
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: we needed to.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: Unfortunate, it's unfortunate that would put.
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: Ourselves in a position like that, and you know, with
• 6:33
  Speaker 5: the season on the line, you hope that we could
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: put one of those Knicks w victories Knicks games out
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: where you're down in the fourth and you find a way.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: To come back and win and just uh, it just
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: didn't happen tonight. What what made him such a difficult
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: cover for this SERI? I mean, he's a great player.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: He's a great player.
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: You know, he's he hit some tough shots, did a
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: great job of pushing his base, you know, and making
• 6:58
  Speaker 5: us have to guard him and not in half court set.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: And that's a test ent.
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: And you know Rick Carlist on their team, you know
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: they they had a game plan to get them going
• 7:07
  Speaker 5: and you know, obviously did our best to minimize the
• 7:11
  Speaker 5: damage you would do in this series in this game.
• 7:15
  Speaker 5: But you know, sometimes great players are gonna be great players,
• 7:18
  Speaker 5: and you know you just got to make it difficult
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: on them and hope they.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: Miss for either one of you.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: Guys were pieced together literally right before the season started
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: and talked about the up and downs going into the season.
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: A lot of people throwing around the word sacrifice to
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: get to this point, and you guys found a resilient
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: kind of personality trade about you guys as the season
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: went on. I know, Jalen, you said it's hard to
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: reflect right now, but is that is that kind of
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: what the journeys falling short? I mean, except for falling
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: short here tonight, but is that what the journey's about?
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: And kind of figuring out who you guys are and
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: overcoming obstacles to to be able to put yourselves in
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: positions like this.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's definitely tough to look ahead, but I mean
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: even when you win, now it's all us about what's next.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: And so regardless, uh, we're gonna go in the summer.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: We're gonna work and we're gonna get better, and we're
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: gonna figure out a way how we can change this outcome.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: It's gonna start with, obviously, just us in our mentality
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: and making sure that now we gotta take one day
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: at a time. We can't just jump right back into
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: the conference finals. I can't look ahead, but I got
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: a lot of faith inish group. And I mean, no one,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: no one sees, no one sees the things that me
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: and him see every day. No one sees the type
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: of people that we have, the workers that we have.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: That's what gives me the confidence. And I'm okay with that.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: I don't I don't. I don't really care what people
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: what they think about us on the outside. I know
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: what we got.
• 9:05
  Speaker 10: You may have partially just answered it there, but when
• 9:07
  Speaker 10: you did say you were that confident in the group,
• 9:10
  Speaker 10: is that the main reason that it is that you
• 9:12
  Speaker 10: believe in that just the work you guys put in
• 9:14
  Speaker 10: that is going to be the thing that will push
• 9:16
  Speaker 10: you guys forward.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely. We have a lot of guys who who
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: work really hard on this team, and like I feel
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: like you guys always ask like what do you work
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: on and when we come back and stuff like that,
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: and I mean be kind of from what I've seen,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: no one's really out there post themselves about like the
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: things that they do or anything like that. And it's
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: just we have guys genuinely just want to work hard
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: to be better. And I like that and I appreciate
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: my teammates and everything they do and everything they believe in.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Jalen du eighteen turnovers. Tonight, they had thirty four points
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: left turnovers. It was an issue throughout the series. Just
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: what did you see? I mean, I saw a lot
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: of breakaways on their part. Just it's just it's probably
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: the reason why now they're able to extend the lead
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: and throughout the series. You can start with Game one
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: when they play when I passed O G and then
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: the turnover right there. It's just something that I have
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: to be able to control. I always talk about control
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: of the things I can control, and that's one of them.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: I wasn't able to do that throughout the series, and
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: I wasn't able to give my teammates and team an
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: opportunity to go out there and win more games. And
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: so yeah, that's it's it's really it's terrible on our part,
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: terrible on my part. Excuse me, jentlem.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: When you talk about the confidence, obviously, I feel like
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: nobody takes more criticism than top and this team obviously
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: has turned around during his tenure. Do you kind of
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: feel that going forward he's the same guy to lift
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: you guys the rest of the way that next level?
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: Is that a real question right now? You just asked
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: me if I believe that, if he's the right guy. Yes,