If, as a Knicks fan, I would have told you a month ago, “Hey, Jalen Brunson has shot 16-55 in the first two games of the postseason, but we’re up 2-0 on a 76ers team with a healthy Embiid,” you wouldn’t have believed me. Heck, nobody who was following the NBA this season would have believed me. Yet here we are. 2-0 as we head to Philly, having beaten one of the best teams in the league (32-8 with Embiid) in back-to-back games with bad performances from our superstar.
Knicks Superstar “Promises” Better Performances Lie Ahead
Regular Season Impact
Just four players had more total points in the regular season than Jalen Brunson‘s 2,212. The next closest Knick ranked 61st, with 1,259 points. Brunson had the 6th highest usage rate in the league at 31.1%. His usage after Julius Randle‘s injury stood at 35.5%, the highest in the league by players with more than 10 games. The offense fell off a cliff without Brunson. It became stagnant, dysfunctional, and uninspiring. The open looks that Brunson generated for his teammates disappeared with him on the bench, and the offense was -14.7 points/100 possessions when he sat. As time went on, the burden on him increased. His average points per game increased each month, and in April, he averaged 36.0 points a game in 8 games.
Brunson’s Playoff Struggles
As mentioned above, this has not been a great start to the postseason from Brunson. He acknowledged it when he spoke to the reporters after practice on Wednesday. “For the most part, the shots that I’ve been shooting have been the ones I’ve been making all year,” Brunson said. “So I’ve gotta obviously be better and make the shots. But also you’ve got to give them a lot of credit. It is what it is at this point. I’ve just gotta be better.”
However, this isn’t a new phenomenon. In the 4 games the two teams played during the regular season, Brunson averaged 22.3 points on 40.3/30/88 shooting splits. To put that in context, those are some of his worst shooting splits vs any opponent in the league. Philly is one of the few teams in the league that has a perfect answer to Brunson. The big wings in Kelly Oubre, Nic Batum, and Tobias Harris have guarded Brunson perfectly, and he has shot just 8-25 when one of them is his primary defender. As mentioned by Josh Hart, “You’ve gotta give Philly credit: Oubre and Batum, they’ve been guarding him full-court. So I don’t think there’s anything he has to do differently. He’s shooting shots that he normally makes, and you shoot into a slump, and you shoot out of a slump,” Hart said.
Another tactic they have employed is forcing other Knicks to beat them. There are many moments where Lowry or Maxey will sag off either DiVincenzo or Hart to double-team Brunson. The 76ers forced the ball out of Brunson’s hands, and to their credit, have been successful. Brunson’s shooting numbers are indicative of the pressure they applied on Brunson, but this has allowed other members to thrive. Hart, Miles McBride, Donte DiVincenzo, and Isaiah Hartenstein have stepped up and delivered when needed. Slowly but surely, the Sixers will guard them fiercely and stop throwing double-teams at Brunson, opening the floor for him to thrive.
Game 3
Yes, Brunson has been abysmal these first two games. Despite that, the Knicks are 2-0 as they take on Philly in Game 3 at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday Night.
Brunson said it best himself.
“The easy answer is I need to adjust and I need to be more poised and understand what they’re doing, and honestly be flat-out better,” he said. “There’s no gimmicks to it. It’s just ‘Jalen you need to be better.’ It’s that plain and simple.”
