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Knicks' Jalen Brunson commits dirty eye-poke foul on ex-teammate, Pistons' Tim Hardaway Jr.

Billy Heyen

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Knicks' Jalen Brunson commits dirty eye-poke foul on ex-teammate, Pistons' Tim Hardaway Jr. image

It's impossible to know for sure.

But it sure seems like Jalen Brunson would've had to have at least a little idea of what he was doing.

When the Knicks guard closed out on Pistons wing Tim Hardaway Jr.'s 3-point attempt, he held his contesting arm out toward the ball but underneath it.

Brunson's hand was heading right toward the face of Hardaway, his former Mavericks teammate.

And right after Hardaway released the shot, Brunson completed his follow through, appearing to poke Hardaway in the eye.

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The play was ruled a Flagrant 1 Foul.

After Brunson committed the foul, chants of "F— you Brunson" broke out in Detroit.

It's probably just more momentum for the Pistons, assuming Hardaway is fully OK.

Detroit took Game 2 in New York, their first playoff win since 2008. Back home in front of a raucous crowd, they didn't need anything extra to get fired up.

But they got it, that's for sure.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle