Player of Week: Brunson Carrying Knicks In Postseason
All-Star Guard Leading League In Playoff Scoring
This year’s NBA playoffs have been exciting, with some series closer than others. One of the most intriguing has been the New York Knicks taking on the Philadelphia 76ers, which features one of the top players in this postseason, guard Jalen Brunson.
Brunson has been carrying the offense of the Knicks for much of the season, and that’s continued into the playoffs. Heading into Thursday’s action, the Jalen Brunson stats for the postseason were outstanding. He was leading the league in playoff scoring at 34.4 points per game while also ranking fifth in assists per game with 8.4.
It’s that kind of play from the All-Star that has the Knicks rising in the NBA playoff odds and earned him our Player of the Week honors.
Carrying The Load
The Knicks’ NBA Finals odds were thought to be in trouble back in late January, when All-Star Julius Randle (24.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists) was sidelined with a shoulder injury. New York was suddenly without one of its biggest offensive threats, putting the onus on Brunson to take over even more.
But even with the news that Randle would be out for the rest of the season due to surgery, New York continued to stay near the top of the NBA standings in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks finished with the second-best record in the East, thanks in large part to Brunson, who became one of the players in the league with the best NBA MVP odds.
Brunson finished the regular season fourth in the league in scoring (28.7 points) and 13th in assists (6.7) while shooting 40.1% from 3-point range. Still, with a somewhat depleted supporting cast – Donte DiVincenzo had the next highest scoring average on the team in the regular season at 15.5 points per game – the Knicks were only going to last in the postseason as long as Brunson was hot.
Winning The Star Battle
Facing the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, New York was matched up with a team that had dealt with injuries that limited its potential. Reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid had been out, forcing the 76ers to battle through the Play-In Tournament to get the seventh seed and the series against the Knicks.
This has been one of the closest series of the first round, but it’s been Brunson who has shined the most. New York had a 3-2 lead heading into Thursday’s Game 6, with its leader doing his thing.
It was more of a team effort in Games 1 and 2, with Brunson averaging just 23.0 points while the Knicks took a 2-0 lead at home. But over the last three contests, the Jalen Brunson stats have gone way up, just as the intensity of the series has increased.
Brunson had 39 points and 13 assists in Game 3, a Knicks loss thanks to 50 points from Embiid. He followed that up with 47 points and 10 assists in a road win in Game 4.
The 47 points set a Knicks playoff record for a single game and were even more impressive when you realize New York scored just 97 points as a team in the contest. Brunson scoring nearly 50% of his team’s points in a win has to be the best performance in the league this season.
Work Not Done
It looked like New York would be able to wrap up the first-round series in five games after the Game 4 road win. But, despite 40 points, six assists and three steals from Brunson, the Knicks couldn’t get the victory, falling in overtime after a furious last-minute rally in regulation by the 76ers.
This time it was Tyrese Maxey making the headlines for a big game, scoring 46 points for Philadelphia. It was yet another reminder that most playoff squads have at least two players that can explode for huge games, while the Knicks are doing this with Brunson being the only real legitimate offensive threat.
If the Knicks are going to win the first-round series with Philadelphia and make more noise this postseason, it will be Brunson leading the way. So his days of earning Player of the Week honors in this year’s playoffs might not be over.
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