Jalen just too good to ignore
EVERY game, every night, the mission has become a simple one: Write about someone other than Jalen Brunson.
Every trip to the Garden, every sojourn to the laptop, the task is the same.
Write about someone other than Jalen Brunson.
And here’s the thing: Right now the Knicks are as deep and as rich in good stories as they’ve been in years. Julius Randle’s nightly redemption. Josh Hart capturing the hearts of Knicks fans within about 15 minutes of unpacking his bags here. Immanuel Quickley electrifying Madison Square Garden simply by removing his warm-up, reporting to the scorer’s table. Mitch Robinson looking, all of a sudden, like an elite defensive force.
Hell, they even have a designated mascot, one who also happens to have Hall of Fame credentials; every night when the Knicks’ lead begins to swell the Garden starts to chant Derrick Rose’s name, and Rose has taken on this unlikely walk-on role with rare grace and good humor.
Good stories everywhere you look.
Write about someone other than Jalen Brunson.
Then the game starts. And Brunson sneaks into the lane, knocks down a 10-footer. He steps back behind the line, swishes a 3. He finds open teammates. He exhorts frustrated ones. And all the while he is making it impossible to write about anyone else, because at the point in this Knicks season it has become impossible to talk about anyone else.
“The ball was going in the hoop,” Brunson said sheepishly when this 142-118 thrashing of the Nets was complete. “I can’t really explain it.”
Yes. The ball was going in the hoop. Brunson took 18 shots Wednesday night. He made 15 of them. He was 5-for-6 from 3. The Knicks knew they were getting an awfully good player when they signed him last July. They didn’t know they were getting this.
“When a player plays like that,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said, “the scoring is impressive. To me, what’s more impressive is fighting the double team and getting the ball out quickly.”
That might have been the most remarkable part. Brunson had 30 of the Knicks’ 81 points in a for-the-ages first half, then only took four more shots the rest of the game, understanding that the Nets were hellbent on letting someone, anyone, else beat them.
In truth, there were plenty of others. Six Knicks scored in double figures. As a team they drilled 20 3s and made 57 percent of the ones they took. Quentin Grimes made 6 out of 9 from 3, scored 22 points. Randle had 21. Superlatives everywhere. It should have been the perfect opportunity to write about someone other than Jalen Brunson.
Then you look at that stat line.
And how can you talk about anyone else?
“They were doubling me and you have to make the right play,” Brunson said. “I trust my teammates.”
He has hit every right note from the moment he signed on. Even his choice of attire was note-perfect: he reported to work donning a fresh-out-ofthe-box No. 88 Patrick Kane jersey, talked about how as a kid growing up outside Chicago he’d admired Kane.
If Kane is paying attention, his new corporate colleague is worthy of equal admiration. And if he can take to New York the way that Brunson has … well, it might not be long before The Post hockey scribes are posing themselves a similar challenge:
Write about someone other than Patrick Kane.
“It’s just great,” Randle said when he was asked what it was like, as a guy who’s visited that zone before, to observe the kind of first half Brunson had when everything that left his fingertips was bound for good things. “It makes the game easier for all of us. He’s making plays and being efficient, and we’re winning.” Randle let that sit for a beat. “Great,” he said. Everything has been going the Knicks’ way; even the Heat and Cavaliers lost Wednesday, meaning the Knicks are only 1 ½ games behind Cleveland for the No. 4 spot in the East. Things are about to get tricky. There’s a Miami-Boston twofer Friday and Sunday. There’s a five-game West Coast swing looming.
There are always potholes lurking.
“This should bring out the best in us,” Thibodeau said.
We’ve seen what their best looks like a lot lately, and mostly it emanates from the player wearing his own No. 11 when he isn’t borrowing Patrick Kane’s 88. Good luck talking about anyone else.