Despite Jalen Brunson’s shooting struggles in the first two playoff games against the Philadelphia 76ers, the New York Knicks have found ways to win. Brunson is shooting just 16 of 55 from the field and 2 of 12 from three-point range, but the Knicks have still managed to take a 2-0 series lead.
The Sixers have been able to effectively double-team Brunson in the paint, resulting in his efficiency on the court dropping significantly. His three-point shooting has also been stunted by Kelly Oubre Jr. and Tobias Harris, who are both over 6 feet 8 inches tall compared to Brunson’s 6-foot-2 frame.
However, the Knicks have found other ways to score, and Brunson has still been effective in his stop-and-pop game around the baseline. In Game 2, Brunson hit a crucial three-pointer late in the game that gave the Knicks the lead for good.
The Knicks are a well-oiled machine who has learned to feed off of each other to generate offense. Brunson addressed this after Game 2, saying that the team will pick up the pieces even if he is having a bad night, which he wishes to avoid.
“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. 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.” —Jalen Brunson
However, if the Knicks wish to make a deep playoff run, they will need Brunson to wake up. Game 3 of the series will be in Philadelphia on Thursday evening, and Brunson and the Knicks will have a chance to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
