NEW YORK — The familiar chants of "MVP! MVP!" for Jalen Brunson were replaced by a much different sound inside a raucous Madison Square Garden.
"Deuuuuuce!"
Deuce McBride, Brunson's backup, led a huge effort by New York's reserves in a 111-104 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Brunson and Josh Hart each scored 22 points, but Brunson pointed the credit elsewhere when asked in his interview on the court what it took for the Knicks to pull out the victory.
"Deuce McBride," he said.