Brunson limped to the tunnel — and came back with his cape to save Knicks again

Through the first three quarters of Game 4, the Knicks were shooting a dreadful 28 percent on 2-pointers and were trailing the Detroit Pistons 71-64. Making matters worse, Jalen Brunson got tangled up with Dennis Schroder fighting for a loose ball at the end of the third quarter and limped to the locker room.

However, just as he had done in Game 1, Brunson returned from the locker room with his cape draped over his shoulders, delivering one of the gutsiest, most clutch, heroic fourth quarter performances you will ever see to save the Knicks once again.

The Clutch Player of the Year delivers again

The voters of the NBA Awards are feeling pretty good about selecting Jalen Brunson as the Clutch Player of the Year right now. Brunson came back from his injury with just over 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. At that point, he had only scored 17 points.

Over the final 10 minutes, Brunson scored 15 points, including seven in the final five minutes of the game, which, considering the game was within five points, is classified as "clutch time" by the NBA.

The league's most lethal closer delivered over and over for the Knicks, scoring tough bucket after tough bucket, doing just enough to keep the Knicks in the fight after any Pistons' basket.

Every Batman needs a Robin

There is no question that Brunson is the Knicks' most important player. They wouldn't be where they are without him, and certainly wouldn't have won this game had he not returned. That said, while Brunson was the Knicks' Batman, Karl-Anthony Towns was their Robin.

After delivering a stellar Game 3 performance, Towns had been lackluster for much of Game 4. He had stretches of driving against Tobias Harris, but only had 19 points and was nowhere near as dominant.

Just as Brunson did, KAT saved his best ball for when the Knicks needed it most. With just under three minutes remaining, Towns drilled a catch-and-shoot three from the right wing to cut the deficit to one.

Then, a little over one minute later, he hit a ridiculous fadeaway over Jalen Duren while falling out of bounds along the baseline to make it a one-possession game.

His most clutch shot, though, and the Knicks' most important, came with only 47 seconds in the game. With the Knicks still trailing by two points, Towns drilled a 27-foot step back three to give New York a one-point lead.

The Knicks should have never been in this situation. Their third quarter was abysmal. They couldn't make a shot at the rim to save their lives. They had 10 turnovers. But the reality was they were in that situation. And sometimes, when things get really bad, you need a hero and his sidekick to save the day.