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Jalen Brunson could become the new Michael Jordan of baby names. That prediction comes from Pamela Redmond, the creator and chief executive of the baby-naming website Nameberry. She and other baby-naming experts say names inspired by Knicks players are probably on the way, now that the Knicks have won the N.B.A. championship. Names like Jalen (Brunson), Joshua (Hart), Miles (McBride) and Tyler (Kolek) are already popular and rank among the top 1,000 names for boys born in the United States, according to data from the Social Security Administration. Landry (Shamet) is rising fast. Redmond expects a surge in the Knicks’ names, not only because of the team’s success, but also because the players are likable and captivated the city. She said that people have been “galvanized by the show of community, which feels like something that’s increasingly important at a time when it’s increasingly rare.”
But under coach Mike Brown this season, New York has leaned on its bench more than it ever did with Thibodeau. That's especially true in this playoff run, which is headed back to MSG for Monday's Game 3 of the Finals against the San Antonio Spurs (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC). Up and down the Knicks bench is evidence of a pie being divided more evenly: Beyond Shamet's contributions, guard Miles McBride has averaged career highs in minutes, scoring and 3-point percentage. Big man Mitchell Robinson has stayed upright after being carefully managed all season and is now being deployed against Victor Wembanyama in clutch time. Guard Jose Alvarado, a trade deadline acquisition, has provided his usual defensive annoyance and energy. "Everybody understands what our standard is," Brown said in December. "It's about sacrifice."
“Opportunity was the main thing,” McBride said when asked what coach Mike Brown has done well with developing the second unit. “He’s putting a lot of guys in different spots and he’s just allowing us to be us. We can play at a high level. I feel like a lot of guys can be starters at different places. We’re all happy here, we’re happy to impact the game at such a high level.”
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McBride, a second-round pick, averaged 2.2 points on 29.6 percent from the field in 40 games as a rookie. You wondered whether he’d ever make it in the NBA, and that skepticism remained for another one and a half seasons as McBride’s playing time/shooting efficiency hovered around unimpressive. Asked Monday to reflect on his personal journey to the Finals, McBride acknowledged, for the first time, that self-doubt crept in. “For sure. For sure,” McBride told The Post. “It was some tough, long nights.”
Knicks Videos: "He's crafty, he has a high IQ...he's not overly fast or athletic, but he plays with a pace that's elite" Deuce McBride on the challenges in defending CJ McCollum.
Ian Begley: Talking to reporters today, Miles McBride was asked about using Game 3 loss as motivation entering Game 4: "I would say we're playing for our lives. It is a 7-game series and it's the first to four but it's ticking away; we don't want to leave it up to chance. We don't want to say we wish we could have or we wish we would have done this different. We want to take every opportunity, take every chance we can and take advantage of it. And get together as a team and figure it out."
Brown prefers to sit both Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns for the starts of the second and fourth quarters rather than stagger them and have one on the court. The lineup he uses instead — with Miles McBride, Landry Shamet, Jordan Clarkson and Mitchell Robinson on the floor — struggled in the Knicks’ 107-106 Game 2 loss to the Hawks on Monday night at Madison Square Garden. “We’ve played that lineup quite a bit at the end of the season,” Brown said. “That lineup’s been pretty good. We weren’t good tonight and we turned the ball over a few too many times during that period. But we had opportunities where our starters were in, and we were up eight to 10 [points] and Atlanta closed it. So I wouldn’t just say that specific lineup caused it.”
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Mike Vorkunov: Mikal Bridges came out of tonight's Knicks game after 23 seconds, so he nominally extends his consecutive games streak to 638. Jordan Clarkson was walking to the scorer's table to sub in right at tip off and Deuce McBridge intentionally fouled a Hornet to stop the clock. Game 82, it's FANtastic!
James L. Edwards III: Landry Shamet will return tonight against Memphis. Jalen Brunson is questionable with right ankle soreness McBride and Robinson are both OUT due to injury management.
Miles McBride played again in Tuesday’s 111-94 loss to the Rockets and made it through 13 minutes unscathed, although his shooting rhythm clearly took a hit as he went 1-for-9 from the field. “It’s tough having surgery in the middle of the season, especially on an area that’s so important to everything you do,” McBride said. “So it’s just going to be a learning process. I’m going to figure it out, though.”
Stefan Bondy: Miles McBride is playing tonight
