Jalen Brunson leaves Knicks Game 7 vs Pacers with fractured left hand

It was the injury the Knicks couldn't afford, right at the time they couldn't afford it.

They were trailing the Indiana Pacers by double digits in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Injuries had already piled up throughout the playoffs.

But then Jalen Brunson went back to the locker room briefly. He returned to the game, but after a couple minutes again went back to the locker room.

"I thought I just jammed it, to be honest with you," Brunson said after the game. "I looked down and knew something was wrong."

He never returned to the bench. The Knicks later announced he was out with a fractured left hand.

Without Brunson, the Knicks ultimately lost 130-109 to the Pacers, ending their season while Indiana advanced to the conference finals to play the Boston Celtics.

“In the third quarter," Brunson said, "I just swiped the ball and Tyrese (Haliburton) hit it with his leg."

Brunson had 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting (1-of-3 from deep) with nine assists when he left the game.

The Knicks already were without Mitchell Robinson, Julius Randle and Bojan Bogdanovic. Josh Hart is dealing with abdominal soreness, while OG Anunoby started Sunday after missing the last four games with a hamstring injury, but only played five minutes and not at all in the second half.

Overall in the playoffs, Brunson was fantastic. He had five games with at least 40 points. At times, he carried the team.

Yet when all was said and done, he wasn't satisfied.

“I would say there’s pros and cons in how I played," Brunson said. "The pros are I played well individually at some points and time during the playoffs. The cons are I didn’t play well enough to help my team move forward. You can say I got hurt in game seven. I wasn’t playing well in game seven. We had a 2-0 and a 3-2 lead. So, it’s hard to look at things individually when you don’t help your team."

His coach, though, praised his star player.

"It’s a testament to who he is because when you look at his season last year, it was remarkable," Tom Thibodeau said. "His playoff run last year was remarkable, and to take the step this year that he’s taken, it says a lot about who he is. He’s never satisfied. He always wants to do better and that’s what I love about him. I love his mentality and I think it permeates the team. When you see someone with that approach and the fact that he cares so much about his teammates, he’s a great leader."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Jalen Brunson leaves NY Knicks Game 7 vs Pacers with fractured hand