Jalen Brunson doesn't have to do it all for Knicks' offense in series vs. 76ers
The Knicks' Jalen Brunson reacts while watching from the bench during the second half of Game 1 in a second-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday. Credit: AP/Seth Wenig
Almost from the opening tip of Game 1 on Monday night, Jalen Brunson pinballed his way through an assortment of 76ers defenders, losing one around a screen, dragging one into the lane and losing them in a maze of footwork.
By halftime he’d put up 27 points and the game was essentially over, the second-greatest scoring half in Knicks postseason history — second only to the last time that the 76ers had sent waves of defenders chasing Brunson to try with little success to slow him.
So the efficient 35-point performance by Brunson was not exactly a surprise, only limited by minutes since he never got on the floor in the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ 137-98 rout in the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinal series. It actually was a step down from the last time these two had met in the postseason and Brunson rolled through the final four games of the Knicks' opening-round series win two years ago, scoring 39, 47, 40 and 41 points.
But the biggest difference this time is that maybe the Knicks don’t need him to do it all.
Sometimes basketball is just a game of matchups. In the opening round of this year's playoffs, the Knicks had to adjust as the Hawks clamped onto Brunson, determined to slow him and force someone else to beat them with waves of long-armed, athletic defenders. Then, the Knicks changed up their offense after the third game, unlocking something new with Karl-Anthony Towns serving as the hub of the offense.
In the first three games of the Hawks series, Brunson averaged 27.7 points per game but fought for every point, shooting 42.3% overall. When Mike Brown and his staff shifted the focus of the offense, Brunson still averaged 25 points over the final three games of the series (including 39 in a crucial Game 5 win), but shot 52.8%.
What the Knicks have done — maybe just in time after a season filled with ups and downs — is land on the offensive versatility that they have chased since Brown arrived: a free-flowing system that allows Brunson to still be the nearly unstoppable centerpiece he has been since arriving in New York, but also opens up other options if teams try to take the ball out of his hands.
Against Philadelphia, finding opportunities for Brunson has rarely been a problem. Unlike Atlanta, its backcourt consists of a pair of speedy, athletic guards, but ones whose size are no match for Brunson’s ability to get into the paint and operate. So 76ers coach Nick Nurse has mostly turned to 6-8 wing Kelly Oubre, whose humor has exceeded his defense, joking about Brunson’s head.
“Obviously, he has a big head,” Oubre said Tuesday. “It’s definitely hard to cover him with his head [flailing around] . . . He’s got the braids. He’s a very smart tactical player, so he uses all that to his advantage. But yeah, I’ll be there. He can whip me all he wants. But you’re not getting free like that.”
While it elicited laughter from Brunson’s teammates, there is certainly more than the head and hair working for Brunson. The biggest key might be 76ers big man Joel Embiid, who the team likes to use in drop coverage. That allows Brunson to fire up open threes or get into the lane against Embiid, who has been a great defender, but health and heft make him a less than ideal defender against Brunson. However, the Knicks didn't have to worry about Embiid for Game 2. The 76ers' big man was scratched because of a sprained right ankle and a sore right hip.
“Yeah, our guys did a good job of setting screens for him,” Brown said. “Jalen’s pace, his change of speed, all that stuff with the basketball was really good. They like to play in a drop, and he was able to come off and get a couple of pocket threes, because we had good screens. When he did that, he made them come up the floor a little bit and he was able to get by them.
“But when we touched the paint, if the help came, he did a pretty good job playing off of two and spraying it, which meant the next time down, guys would stay on him a little bit more. Now, you get the opportunity to finish. So, Jalen was really good as the head of the snake, but the guys behind him set the screen, making sure we’re spaced the right away. Being ready to make a quick decision when that ball got sprayed, that was all really good, too.”
While Brunson has been able to impose his will on the 76ers, the Knicks have reached a point where if Nurse opts for some gimmick defense to try to slow him, something the Knicks have said that they expect, they have counters. Also they still are able to find ways to still get the ball back to Brunson, but also rely on Towns, OG Anunoby and others to carry the load, both scoring and playmaking.
The 76ers have tried to find ways to avoid Embiid getting involved on screens, but the Knicks have been able to read those maneuvers and change up the screener, a familiarity grown over a season of trial and error.
“It’s a lot of fun when you have concepts on either end of the floor and the guys are trying to embrace those concepts at the highest level,” Brown said. “And when they do, it doesn’t really matter what you call or who initiates the action, because guys are trying to play the right way. And these guys are pros. Any team out on the floor, if they’re trying to embrace what you’re throwing out there and you’re sacrificing and believing and connecting all that other stuff, it can be a lot of fun to watch.”
“That’s why you play a season,” Brunson said. “That’s why you go through the ups and downs of the season. That’s why you go through adversity. You find things to make you the best team possible by the end of the year. You continued to work. Even when you’re at this point you find ways to get better and improve. There’s never a time when you look back and you say, ‘All right, we’re good now, we don’t have to continue to work or continue to get better.’ It’s not the case at all. You continue to fight, you continue to improve. You find ways, whether it’s mental or physical, to get better.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
