Brunson downplays his impressive preseason
NEW YORK — Most objective viewers would agree on Jalen Brunson’s preseason: it was as good as you could possibly hope. Maybe even better.
There were factors weighing against Brunson in those four games, namely that he never played with any of his teammates. But he directed Knicks traffic like a beat cop who worked that same intersection for eight years.
The starters were dominant, the Knicks went 3-1 and they outscored opponents by 64 points with Brunson on the court.
What does all this mean? To paraphrase Brunson, “Absolutely nothing.”
“It’s preseason, and this doesn’t really matter,” Brunson said. “While we have made strides, while we have gotten better it really starts on Wednesday (in the regular season opener). We have to continue to just have that mindset and continue to get better and we will be OK. This is just a start for us. We can’t be satisfied with 3-1 in the preseason. That means nothing.”
If we ignore Brunson’s suggestion and analyze preseason, the results suggest his presence will boost production from both Mitchell Robinson and RJ Barrett. Brunson also takes the ball and pressure off Julius Randle, who demonstrated in preseason a willingness to accept a lesser role in the offense.
But the preseason, as Brunson indicated, isn’t a great barometer. Three of the opponents — Indiana (twice) and Detroit — are bad and inexperienced. The fourth opponent (the Wizards) probably has the ceiling of the play-in tournament.
On Wednesday, the Knicks open their regular season on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies, a team with a superstar and championship aspirations.
“It starts for real,” Brunson said.