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
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.”
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