Two York! Knicks' Jalen Brunson, Immanuel Quickley Land NBA Award Nominations

Less than 24 hours before their postseason journey begins in Cleveland, New York Knicks guards Jalen Brunson and Immanuel Quickley's efforts in thrusting their team to the fifth seed on the Eastern Conference bracket were recognized by the NBA.

With the finalists for individual awards unveiled prior to the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament final between Chicago and Miami on Friday night, Brunson earned himself a nomination for the Association's Most Improved Player Award while Quickley will compete for the Sixth Man of the Year title.

Winners of each individual award will be unveiled during TNT's coverage of the NBA Playoffs, which tip-off on Saturday.

Both players are a major reason why the Knicks will be tipping off on Saturday (6 p.m. ET, ESPN) instead of partaking in the Play-In antics.

Brunson perhaps could've earned an MVP nomination (that trio going to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, and Nikola Jokić) but there's no doubt that he took major steps forward in his professional career after inking a highly-publicized four-year, $104 million deal with the Knicks over the offseason. Previously known for his postseason heroics with the Dallas Mavericks, Brunson averaged a career-best 24 points and 6.2 assists over 68 appearances this season.

Meanwhile, Quickley went from trade deadline fodder to an essential part of the Knicks' success, likewise putting up a career-best in scoring at 14.9 a game, appearing in all but one of the 82 contests. Quickley came up big in the latter points of the season, filling in admirably when fellow frontcourt reps like Brunson and RJ Barrett were forced out of the starting five due to injuries.

Each player faces a tall task in bringing home individual hardware to New York: Brunson will compete against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lauri Markkanen of Oklahoma City and Utah respectively while Quickley battles fellow Eastern Conference playoff contenders Malcolm Brogdon (Boston) and Bobby Portis Jr. (Milwaukee)

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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