Mid-range game may be key to Jalen jump-start
More mid-range pull-up jumpers might help remedy Jalen Brunson’s off-shooting nights in the Knicks’ firstround playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers. Brunson shot 8-of-29 against the Sixers in Game 2 and 8-of-26 from the field in Game 1.
He is meeting a swarm of bodies when he drives to the paint plus an elongated extended arm closing out on three-point attempts courtesy of the 6-foot-8 bodies the 76ers use (Kelly Oubre Jr., Nic Batum, Tobias Harris) to chase the star Knicks guard around the court.
Yet Brunson is finding success in the stop-and-pop game, specifically around the foul line extended and when driving on the right side of the floor toward the baseline. The Knicks were also successful in Game 2 when they screened high, close to half-court, for Brunson, who then used his speed to create distance from his defender before generating a quality offensive possession.
He also found ways to manipulate the Sixers’ defense in the second half, forcing defenders to collapse before finding Isaiah Hartenstein frequently for easy dump-off passes at the rim.
Hartenstein went scoreless in the first half but finished Game 2 with 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field to go with eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks on the night.
“I just love the way he’s wired. And so just keep going. You never know when something changes,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said of Brunson despite the off-shooting night. The star Knicks guard also added eight rebounds and six assists, while turning the ball over just once. “He’s rebounding the ball. He’s playmaking. He’s not hesitating. And look, they’re paying a lot of attention to him, which is opening up other things for us. So just keep going, and that’s what I love. I want all our guys like that.”
Brunson said he’s going to allow his scoring to take a back seat to the main goal: winning.
“The one thing about this team: no one really cares who’s doing what, who gets the credit for what. We just want to go out there and win. I said it last time: I could play bad again and we win, that’s fine for me,” he said. “Obviously I want to play better, but to the point where we’re all sticking together no matter
what, whatever the situation is, we’re gonna have each other’s back. So whatever’s working at the time, we’re just gonna keep going to it.”
The Sixers were effective in running Brunson out of rhythm, specifically contesting his shots from behind when recovering off pick-and-roll actions. The Sixers’ defensive pressure and length clearly rushed the Knicks guard at different times in the game.
“[I need to] slow down, be myself,” he said. “Plain and simple.”
Philadelphia will continue to throw each body at its disposal at Brunson in an attempt to throw him out of rhythm.
“[Nicolas Batum] is a great defender. Just gotta give them credit, they’ve been doing a great job,” he said. “Him, Kelly, whoever. I gotta be better and will be at some point.”
THE SHOT HEARD ‘ROUND NYC
The Madison Square Garden crowd erupted when Donte DiVincenzo’s go-ahead three ripped through the net with to put the Knicks up three with just seconds left on the game clock.
“It was huge. It was loud as hell in there,” said DiVincenzo, who missed his first attempt at a dagger three before Hartenstein recovered the offensive rebound and got the ball back to the franchise’s single-season leader in threes made. “Honestly, after I missed the first one I was really, really, really hoping that Isaiah got it because I knew the rotation of everything I was going to get a second look. Thank God he got the offensive rebound.”
“I was hoping Isaiah got the offensive rebound, just because I knew I was gonna get a second opportunity. We practice that every day: dagger threes and second chance threes. So once OG got it, I just got my feet set, trusted the work I put in and thankfully it went down.”