Brunson's Brilliance Shines in the Big Easy

"Jalen Brunson simply said, 'We are not losing tonight.'" - Mike Breen

Final Score: Knicks 104 - Pels 93
Record: 18-10

Exactly one year ago yesterday, December 21, 2023, the current Las Vegas Aces head coach and former San Antonio Spurs assistant coach, Becky Hammon, was a guest on an innocuous ESPN program. In a segment that will go down in Knicks lore, Hammon argued that because the Knicks don't have a "1A dude," New York's upside was capped.

"They're well-coached, they're going to be on their defensive game, but at the end of the day, they don't have a dude," Hammon said. "You gotta have a dude, you gotta have a 1A dude, and they're missing that at the end of the day if we're just getting down to brass taxes."

In the 365 days since those comments, all Brunson has done is score more points (2,086) than every other player in the NBA (including Jokic, Giannis, Doncic etc.) and posted an individual plus/minus of +654, the highest +/- in the entire league (above Tatum, SGA and Jokic).

In the 2024 postseason, Brunson had his team (despite playing without their starting PF and starting center) on the cusp of the conference Finals before OG pulled his hamstring and JB broke his hand. During that legendary playoff run, Brunson became the first player since Michael Jordan in the 1993 NBA Finals to score 40 or more points in four consecutive postseason games.

Hammon's knock on Brunson was that he wasn't big enough to carry a club. Yet, JB led all non-centers in PPG in the paint in the playoffs. "I'm obviously not the fastest or strongest. I can't jump the highest. But I'm relentless," Brunson said back in May. "I always have a plan."

This season, following the blockbuster trades for Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges, Brunson has taken a backseat. His numbers are still incredible, but KAT is the new star on Broadway and Bridges' up-and-downs have garnered immense attention.

However, with Towns in foul trouble (he picked up his third foul 44 seconds into the second quarter) and the Knicks down double-digits to a motivated New Orleans club last night, Brunson decided it was time to put the team on his back for an evening.

The Captain flat-out took over the second half. With New York trailing by 13 halfway through the third, Brunson sparked a 43-14 run over 11 minutes spanning the third and fourth quarters. During that stretch, Brunson scored 25 points on 10 FG attempts, while the entire Pelicans team scored 14 points on 19 FG attempts.

The Captain was on one last night and had everything working. He confidently stepped in three-balls. When defenders closed out too hard, he worked his magic at the rim, lofting up flotation devices that found the bottom of the net. By the time the final buzzer sounded, Brunson had poured in a season-high 39 points to go along with six assists, two steals, and seven 3-pointers. He was incredibly efficient, converting 13 of his 19 FG attempts and all six free throws.

In the closing moments on the MSG broadcast, Mike Breen stated matter of factly, "Jalen Brunson simply said, 'We are not losing tonight.'"

Part of the reason KAT and others have garnered the lion's share of attention from the media this season is that we have become immune to Brunson's brilliance and almost expect prolific production on a nightly basis.

Yet, you look up at his numbers through the first 28 games of the season, and JB's stats are stunning. He is currently averaging over 25 points (on 49.3% shooting), a career-high 7.6 assists (vs. just 2.5 turnovers), 2.9 rebounds and a career-high 2.8 made three-pointers while shooting a career-high 44.6% from behind the arc.

To put those numbers in perspective, Brunson is on pace to become the first player in NBA history to average 25+ points and 7+ assists per game while shooting above 49% from the floor and 44% from behind the arc.

It could be argued that Brunson is having a more impressive and impactful overall campaign this season than he did in 2023-24, which is remarkable considering he finished in the top 5 in MVP voting.

Call me crazy, but JB seems like a "1A dude" to me.

Other Takeaways and Knicks Notes:

🏀 Zooming out to the big picture, non-Brunson stuff, last night's victory over the Pels was important for the manner in which it was secured. New York has won a fair share of blowouts this season due to their offensive explosiveness and ability to shut down teams on the defensive end when they are locked in.

However, Saturday night in New Orleans was a rock fight. The Pelicans dragged the Knicks into the mud, especially in the first half. Yet, the 'Bockers responded in a big way after halftime. Instead of complaining to the refs about the physicality of the contest or settling for long-range jumpers, New York ratcheted up their own intensity and pushed back on both ends of the floor.

Great teams find ways to win ugly road games against desperate opponents. And NY did just that in the Big Easy.

"I think it's a good lesson for us; it's a good game for us," Towns said afterward. "I don't think we had a game like this all year. It was a very different game with a different script. I think we did a good job of learning from our other games and learning from our losses. And finding a way to grit this game out and execute at a high level at the end when we needed to."

🏀 If we are talking about a gritty/gutty Knicks win, you know Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges got their hands nice and dirty.

After missing Thursday's victory over Minnesota due to personal reasons, Hart returned to action on Saturday and finished with 14 points (6-of-13 FGs, 1-of-2 FTs), eight rebounds, five assists, two steals, one block, and one 3-pointer in 42 minutes.

OG continues to struggle with his jumper (he was 6-of-17 from the floor vs. New Orleans) but relentlessly finds ways to help his team win. He had two more steals on Saturday and was +17 in 37 minutes.

🏀 Bridges was brilliant on both ends once again, tallying 18 points, three assists, two steals, and three 3-pointers in 45 minutes. Dejounte Murray and Trey Murphy III were the Pels' two leading scores on Saturday, but they were a combined 1-for-6 when defended by Bridges.

And the one play from Bridges last night that I will highlight is a miss.

With less than three seconds remaining in the first quarter, Mikal came up with a steal and turned toward the Pels basket. Instead of taking a couple of dribbles and letting time expire before casually throwing up a jumper, Bridges launched the ball at the rim from 50 feet away before the end of the quarter. As expected, the shot missed badly, but his willingness to even attempt it speaks volumes about his character and unselfishness as a teammate.

One of my biggest pet peeves in today's game is players refusing to put up half-court heaves before the end of quarters. They'd rather protect their precious FG% than potentially help their team win a basketball game.

Last night's shot to beat the first-quarter buzzer was the seventh shot Bridges has taken this season from behind half-court. That's the second most such attempts this season, trailing only Nikola Jokic.

After the much-publicized disastrous start to this season, Mikal is now shooting over 49% from the field and over 35% from downtown as a Knick.

Early on, one of the biggest knocks against Bridges was his alarming inefficiency on above-the-break three-pointers. Yet, that never stopped him from launching shots that had very little chance of going in.

One reason I remained confident Bridges would get back on track is because he never stopped playing the game the right way.

If you subtract those eight backcourt heaves and the six other misses he has from inside half-court but beyond 26 feet this season, Bridges' FG% from above the break rises nearly four full percentage points.

🏀 Due to early foul trouble (which limited his aggressiveness even after he returned to the contest), KAT finished with just 11 points (3-of-10 FG), 10 rebounds, four assists, one block, and two 3-pointers. It's also probably safe to assume Towns was mentally and physically exhausted after that emotionally charged homecoming Thursday night in Minnesota. We'll let him slide.

Despite his down night, KAT still notched his 17th straight double-double, tying Patrick Ewing for the fourth-longest DD streak in Knicks history.

🏀 With Towns on the bench for most of the first half, New York needed Precious Achiuwa to step up, but he didn't deliver. With New York hemorrhaging points defensively, Thibs turned to Jericho Sims, who responded with one of his best games of the season. Sims didn't attempt an FG but ripped down eight rebounds and successfully protected the paint.

Sims was the only backup big to see action in the second half.

You never want to read too much into single-game plus/minus, but New York was -13 in the 12 minutes Precious was on the floor and +17 in the 13 minutes Sims was on the court.

That's a significant discrepancy. Hat-tip to Jericho. The Knicks needed him last night, and he did his thing.

🏀 The Knicks have won five straight games on the road and are now 10-6 away from home this season. Only the Celtics and Thunder have more road wins (11).

🏀 Thibs played all five starters the entire third quarter last night. Hart and Bridges played the whole second half. Brunson got less than two minutes of rest. I hate to beat this dead horse, but this strategy remains inadvisable. OG, Hart and Bridges should have their minutes reduced, especially as the Knicks have just begun a stretch in which they play 19 games over 33 days.

🏀 Next Up:
Knicks host the Raptors on Monday (7:30 PM tip)

The slumping Raps have lost six straight. In Thursday's loss to the Nets, they welcomed back Scottie Barnes, who returned after missing the past two games due to a sprained right ankle, but were missing center Jakob Poeltl (strained left groin), RJ Barrett (illness) and Davion Mitchell (strained right shoulder)

Toronto plays the Rockets at home on Sunday, so Monday's game in NY will be the second night of a home-road back-to-back.