"People were like, 'Oh, Jalen is waving because he knew he wasn't going back,'" Brunson said on the Roommates Show, a podcast he co-hosts wit

It seemed like New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson was waving goodbye to Boston Celtics fans during Game 5 of their second-round series because he believed his team would close things out in Game 6 and not return.

No, Jalen Brunson was not waving goodbye to Celtics fans at the end of Game 5. After fouling out in the fourth quarter of Boston’s victory, Brunson was shown on the big screen and gave the crowd a wave.

The Boston Celtics were trying to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals in a series against the Knicks. The Knicks have been a tough team all year long, and they suddenly found themselves down 3-1.

For the first time since the 2020-21 season, the Boston Celtics will not be in the Eastern Conference Finals. After winning the NBA Finals last year, the No. 2 seed Celtics were upset by the No. 3 seed New York Knicks in the conference semifinals,

The Celtics were 4-0 against the New York Knicks in the regular season and were the team to beat going into the NBA Playoffs. But New York upset Boston in the second round and prevented the Celtics from reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since the 2020-21 season and prevented the 2023-24 champions from repeating.