Only four players had more point totals in the regular season than Jalen Brunson’s 2,212. The next closest Knick ranked 61st, with 1,259 points. Brunson had the sixth-highest usage rate in the league at 31.1%. His usage after Julius Randle’s injury was 35.5%, the highest in the league for players with more than 10 games. The offense fell off a cliff without Brunson. He has become stagnant, dysfunctional and uninteresting. The open looks 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 passed, the burden on him increased. His points per game average increased each month and in April he was averaging 36.0 points per game in 8 games.
Yes, Brunson has been terrible in these first two games. Despite that, the Knicks are 2-0 as they face Philly in Game 3 at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night.
Brunson said it best himself.
“The simple answer is I have to adapt and I have to be more balanced and understand what they’re doing, and honestly be way better,” he said. “There are no tricks. It’s just ‘Jalen, you gotta be better.’ It’s so plain and simple.