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Eyes on Jalen Brunson: Watching the New York Knicks star in Miami overnight

Posted on by Gerres
Eyes on Jalen Brunson: Watching the New York Knicks star in Miami overnight

MIAMI — Jalen Brunson has a minute to spare as he emerges from the visitor tunnel at the Kaseya Center in downtown Miami on Wednesday evening. The New York Knicks star is scheduled to start pre-game training at 6 p.m., but arriving on time means being late.

As always, Brunson walks straight to the judge’s table, scoops a ball of hand cream with his finger and massages it into his hands. Meanwhile, Brunson’s father, Rick, is the team’s assistant coach Knickshe gets up from his seat to greet his son on the court. No words are exchanged. The two get down to work, which includes a 15-minute photo session. Amid fame, expectations and nine-figure contracts, the Brunsons get back to the heart of the matter before every game. Rick is the one who always puts Jalen through pre-game work. Just father, son, basketball and basket. Just like it was over 20 years ago.

There are no unnecessary movements in the routine. Jalen shoots from midrange, makes threes off the dribble, threes off screens, and much more. They boiled it down to a T, where each workout flows smoothly into the next. The Brunsons barely talk to each other, except for a brief bit that apparently caused a chuckle. If it weren’t for this and their physical resemblance, you’d think these two couldn’t stand each other.

Jalen Brunson is the ultimate preparer and, as you can see, he has a work ethic that is matched by few. His pre-game routine is performed at the speed of the game. His sweat releases sweat. That’s what it takes to become the player he has become.

The face of the Knicks is 90 minutes into the game Miami Fever when he goes to training before the match. New York is out of the game in which Cleveland CavaliersA likely setback for the Knicks, who are looking to end a championship drought longer than Broadway, handed them their second loss in three games. Brunson, the team captain, took responsibility for the defeat, saying he had to do better to earn a second star Cities of Charles Anthony more involved in crime.

This is the first chance for Brunson and the Knicks to make amends after Monday’s loss, and it seems like the perfect night to play and watch Brunson, and only Brunson, throughout the game.

First quarter

11:33: Defensively, the Knicks are hiding forward Brunson on the Heat Nikola Jovic. Miami isn’t able to get a good offense right away, but Jovic ends up with the ball on the run as the shot clock winds down, past Brunson and into the bucket. Fortunately for Brunson, Jović misses the positioning, and the former collects rebounds and accelerates to clear the ball just after crossing half the court. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brunson in a lot of off-ball action throughout the game.

9:37: Brunson gets a hockey assist when he circles Towns’ screen, dribbles, and then throws the ball back to the big guy. Towns could have given the ball back, but instead he passes it into an even more open box Mikala Bridgeswhich drains 3. New York entered the contest averaging the fewest threes per game in NBA. It was clear from the start that this was pressure, and using Brunson as a rebounding weapon helped create it. To start the game, New York plays through Towns.

4:17: As he mentioned after the Cavs loss, Brunson is making a concerted effort to get his teammates involved early. While Bridges is in the lane making free throws, Brunson goes to talk to OG Anunoby about what appeared to be a possession earlier when Brunson looked to feed Anunoby, who was being guarded by a smaller Terry Rozier in the post. It looked like Brunson was asking him why he couldn’t get into position and that he was trying to get him the ball with his size mismatch.

3:12: Brunson will have three assists and only three shots after the first quarter. He keeps his word to get his teammates more involved, which helped him as New York had already made seven three-pointers at this point in the quarter. Knicks lose when Brunson leaves.

Second quarter

7:44: Brunson checked in about a minute ago and is playing along Miles McBride. On the second possession, Brunson returns the ball and McBride initiates the offense. The latter hits the goal and kicks to Brunson in the corner, scoring 3 points. The shot just misses, but the whole process was interesting, simply because it was only Brunson’s second third goal of the season. One way the Knicks can increase their three-point shooting and not rely on Brunson so much is to put him in a position where he can be a threat as a long-range shooter. The result wasn’t what New York expected, but its future is interesting to monitor.

5:09: Brunson is isolated alone with Jovic. The Knicks guard scares Jovic off the dribble, moves into the penalty area and kicks him to the corner. Josh Hart when the midfielder falls down. Hart misses a three-pointer, but Brunson’s intentions were clear from the start when he realized his offense would force an extra defender. Brunson took advantage of this mismatch, created an advantage with his offense, and then helped generate a wide open three. The Knicks took a clear initiative to shoot more three-pointers, and Brunson helped them a lot. Typically, Brunson would take someone like Jovic to the basket.

3:08: The Brunson-Towns pick-and-roll and pop collaboration has been going on since they joined forces, but it’s just reached a new level: dizzying. Brunson dribbles just over Towns’ screen, which has another screen behind it. When Brunson turns from a corner kick, he quickly eats up the space in front of him, forces the lone defender in his path to give back to him, and then flicks the ball in the air to the soaring Towns. This is a dynamic between both stars that we haven’t seen yet, but it should appear more and more over time.

0:32: After spending most of the half trying to get others involved, Brunson goes down and shoots a 3 to try to make it two to one. The shot hits the hoop but doesn’t go into the goal. In an attempt to help others get on the field, Brunson seems to have failed to find it so far. He’s making 1 of 7 shots, scoring just four points in 17 minutes. However, he has five assists and should probably have a few more.

New York will trail by six goals at halftime and will need to get more out of Brunson as a scorer in the second half.

Third quarter

9:41: After missing a three-pointer and missing a jumper from within, Brunson gets to the basket for a layup to cut New York’s deficit to seven. Early in the third quarter, the Knicks continue to use Brunson off the ball and the offense seems a bit out of sync. We’re still working on the chemistry in this team, just like in the offense. It’s clear that New York is experimenting with different moves to find a better balance and is trying more than 3. The latter has worked, but the offense still seems inconsistent.

7:57: Brunson puts a little pressure on the last few possessions, but a nice pass from Bridges to an open Brunson in the corner makes it a 3 for a defender who desperately needed to see a jumper fall. It was his first three-pointer in the game and only his third attempt of the night. On the previous possession, Brunson forced a strong mid-range jumper that saw the ball hit the front of the rim as he fell onto the cameraman at the baseline. It’s obvious he’s a little frustrated, and being around Brunson, that’s most likely himself.

4:33: The Brunson-Towns pick-and-pop gives the Knicks a huge boost. Brunson disappears from Towns’ screens, sees Rozier following him and… Bam Adebayo is in front of him, playing in a relegated position. Brunson takes Adebayo almost to the half circle, turns and passes to Towns for the 3. This is Towns’ first game in which the Knick scored 30 points and the tie is at 74. Brunson controlled the entire game with his patience as he positioned defenders and created enough space for Towns he could shoot.

3:33: Brunson takes a catch-and-shoot three and makes it after missing one seconds earlier. The Knicks are on the rise, leading by double digits after a recent double-digit lead, and the offense has had several good steals in a row.

2:38: Brunson calls and New York leads by two points.

Fourth quarter

9:36: Brunson rejoined the Knicks at eight. On the first play, Brunson gives up the ball but recovers it off the screen. He goes down and finds it Jericho Sims for a dunk. It was Brunson’s eighth assist of the evening. He may not be shooting with the efficiency that observers are accustomed to, but he’s getting his head around and intentionally setting his teammates up for success. It was a solid, old-school performance from the quarterback.

7:42: Brunson tries to isolate himself Jaime Jaquez Jr. and takes a step on the rebound from outside the free throw line, allowing him to draw a foul. In the process, Brunson sprained his ankle. After falling awkwardly, he limped to the corner of the court. He makes both free throws, but only hits one of them. The Knicks lead by five.

5:55: The big players are making big plays, and Brunson went three-deep early in the shot clock and the Heat gained momentum and drilled him. He then does his patented three-point celebration and forces a Miami timeout. After poor shooting in the first half, Brunson shot 4 of 7 in the second half. It wasn’t great, but New York found the right balance with Brunson coming to the forefront and Towns taking a backseat.

4:01: Brunson takes it Jimmy Butler one on one and puts him on his feet with a nice bounce, but the shot from mid-range is long. New York, trailing by four, went scoreless on its final few possessions and Brunson managed to create a good opportunity. It wasn’t his night to throw the ball, but these moments are why he’s here and he’s happy about it.

2:42: Brunson does what superstars do: play after play, with the game on the line. He continued to attack and scored with a pass from the three-point line to a cutting Hart on the break. It changed the dynamic of the Knicks and a reminder that the best players, even outside of their nights, find ways to get home.

0:00: The Knicks defeated the Heat 116-107.

Brunson is the leader. His words after Monday’s defeat were not introduced just for fun or false responsibility. Brunson said he needed to do a better job of putting his teammates in the right positions to be successful, and he did so, assisting nine times and spreading the ball around the pitch, even if it came at the expense of his own rhythm.

Despite a rough shooting night, Brunson, who finished with 22 points, nine assists and just one turnover, did what the best players in this league do and finish games. He didn’t shy away from the moment when his shots missed. Brunson took every shot in the fourth quarter as if he had never missed one before. He kept hanging around, finding teammates and helping Towns, who scored 44 points, have a vintage night in his new uniform.

Superstars always find a way to leave their mark on the game, and Brunson’s fingerprints were all over this win, especially because of the unselfishness with which he played. This is what separates the great from the good.

(Top photo of Jalen Brunson: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)