It was a sight fans in attendance at Madison Square Garden for the Knicks’ Thursday victory over the Charlotte Hornets wanted to see: All-Star guard Jalen Brunson in attack mode from the opening tipoff.
Brunson’s role this time around is different from the one he played last season.
Last season, on an injury-riddled Knicks team making a Cinderella-like run to 50 wins and the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed, Brunson’s M.O. was to score first and ask questions later.
On a more talented Knicks roster, his job description has shifted.
Now, Brunson must ask questions first: How is the defense guarding him? Are his teammates in rhythm? Is the game calling for him to score or would him forcing the issue play into the opponent’s game plan?
“I think the big thing with Jalen is he’s always provided what the team needs in whatever role he’s been in. He’s had every role,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said of Brunson ahead of tipoff on Thursday. “In Dallas, he was off the bench. And then he comes here and his role changes.”
Thibodeau likes to say two phrases: The game tells you what to do, and each game is different.
One constant 22 games into the year: Brunson will be the target of funky defensive schemes, double-teams and physicality bordering on illegal.
It’s what defenses do to get the ball out of his hands — and what the Knicks have taken advantage of after an active offseason, trading for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Now, defenses must reconsider their all-out assault on Brunson, who averaged 25.2 points and a career-high 7.7 assists entering his injury-shortened 24-point, five-assist matchup in the win over the Hornets on Thursday.
With opposing defenses loaded up on the All-Star playmaker, Brunson’s teammates have stepped up. Thursday’s win marked the 14th game all five Knicks starters scored in double figures. The Knicks are 11-3 this season when the scoring column is well balanced.
“We had injuries [last season], and then he had to score a lot more. And he adapted to that very well also. And now we have scorers so he’s reading the game really well,” Thibodeau continued. “He gets double-teamed a lot and he doesn’t fight it. He hits the open man, he allows us to play fast. Guys are starting to get comfortable. They’re moving without the ball. You cut and you’re open, he’s going to hit you. … When you have players like that, making plays for each other. Those easy baskets are huge for you. It gives everyone great rhythm.”
Balanced scoring was what the doctor ordered on Thursday, but it wasn’t that way to start the game.
The one-time All-Star angling for a second appearance scored 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field in the first quarter alone.
His night was cut short by what appeared to be a lower back injury in the third quarter, and he left the bench for the locker room with 2:39 left in the period before returning to the bench with a wrap around his midsection later in the fourth.
By then, the Knicks had already run up a 30-point margin. It’s something that might not have happened last season, when the Knicks were reliant on his every basket to put a mark in the win column.
Now, it can be Towns, who finished with a game-high 27 points and 16 rebounds. Or it can be OG Anunoby, who scored 15 of his 26 points in the third quarter alone.
What’s clear is the Knicks now do this as a team, led by their captain, a captain who used to be all about buckets, but continues to morph his game to what the moment requires.
Sometimes, the moment requires a bucket. More often than not, it requires whatever’s needed to win the game.
