Jalen Brunson in the win: 19⁄14 on 54% TS
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401873342
19 points
3 rebounds
14 assists (3 TOs)
7⁄16 FG, 1⁄7 3PT
The playmaking gap between him and Mitchell was very evident today which is why ultimately IMO Brunson is a top 10 guy and Mitchell is more like top 15
Mitchell has tunnel vision when the Knicks swarmed him he wasn’t able to find the open guys (Allen/Mobley both barely touched the ball all 2nd half) while the Cavs’ taking away Brunson’s looks didn’t pay off because of how well he was able to make the extra pass
After the Hawks series, Brunson has done a good job cutting down on the helio guard over dribbling he sometimes does
Literally needed to be scolded by his dad to share the ball and I love that he didn’t throw his star weight around and just did right by the team.
Knicks unfair advantage is having their star player’s dad as part of the coaching staff to keep them grounded.
i love tampering
(jk pablo torre pls just focus on the clippers)
Torre said he looked into it and found nothing
the real reason he got the pulitzer
It was obv his dad convince him to go to ny and the nba already fined the org. I don’t think the Knicks saw Brunson becoming their best player
The levels of “tampering” (connections) between the Knicks and Brunson are crazy. His GM/President of Basketball Ops is his Godfather and was his agent for the longest time.
would the tampering charges be reduced if he was just a more recent godfather?
edit: aww now my silly joke doesn’t make sense anymore
Dude took a massive pay cut to make the team better. He’s one of the most humble superstars in the league. No surprise that he’ll do whatever it takes on the court to win.
Yeah what he lacks in athletic ability, he compensates in all the intangibles, he’s respected enough by other players to let them take the reins but humble enough to not have an ego and be the butt of the joke.
They’ve also let other players bring the ball up the floor which has helped keep him fresh instead of forcing the issue against full court pressure, also encouraging more natural ball and player movement in the half court
I hated that shit. We had more than enough of that with Melo (not a guard but definitely heliocentric).
Yeah it really sucked when he dragged the team from a historic deficit in game 1 should have brought in Kolek smh
He was not attempting every single shot and refusing to pass the ball. Bridges hit some 3s, Shamet hit a rattler, OG had some points. Tell me Melo would have let anyone else do shit.
I agree with your point except I don’t think Mitchell is top 15. He’s not elite enough of a scorer to be that one dimensional.
Who would you have over him though?
SGA, Jokic, Wemby, Luka, Giannis, Tatum, Cade, Ant, Brunson, Lebron, Curry, and KD make 12.
I’d put Kawhi and Jaylen above Don too, just based on career along with performance specifically this year.
If you think one of Maxey or Booker, or Hali or Embiid (when healthy), or Mobley or Bam (because of defense) is better than Don, then he’s out of the top 15.
The funny thing is that one of Mitchell’s tendencies before he drives is to look off / stare at another teammate to fake out the defender before he goes downhill. After a while, the defender simply won’t bite on that fake notional pass.
Mitchell at this point in his career needs to accept being a number 2
Yeah but the Cavs don’t have a number 1 or number 2 other than him
James Harden rolls over in his grave
Harden hasn’t been a viable number 1 option since he got injured on the nets
Yes, but he is going to need to make a decision next year about what he expects his future to be because I doubt the cavs are going to wait for him to become a free agent the year after.
He kinda did though. Like he went to the Cavs to be on a more stacked team and was very willing to give up a lot of touches to Garland & Mobley in the hopes that it would result in a better team. But Mobley still can’t create off the dribble and Garland was made of glass so they swapped him for one of the greatest playoff chokers in history who is shooting 40% from the floor, turning it over 4.6 times a game and playing mostly horrendous defence but somehow there’s a vocal group of Cavs fans who think he can’t be blamed
Was getting flamed after game 1 for saying spida can’t lead a team to a chip. Brunson showed the difference between a player that can win it all and one that can’t tonight. He really feels like he leveled up again this season, scary stuff considering he was already exceptional. I think there’s an honest debate for him as top 5 in the league if he puts up a strong showing in the finals, and he’s absolutely top 5 if the knicks win the chip
Jalen’s had Donovan’s number since the ‘22 playoffs when Doncic was out the first 3 gms. It has since carried over to the Eastern conference.
Mitchell isn’t even top 15. Regular season, sure. But when matters most in the playoffs, he disappears. He’s overhyped and I think we’d be best to move on. He isn’t a winning player, and none of the guys on this team are. Sure, nice dudes, but extremely soft in competition.
Mitchell is nasty, idk about this
Remains to be seen this playoffs. He’s had one genuinely good game. Hasn’t played well at all against you guys.
I think it might be a lingering injury. This dude is 7th all time in playoff ppg, he’s no joke.
Don’t get ungrateful… in games in which players score at least 35 points in a playoff game Mitchell averages 42-6-5 in 16 such games 42 points is highest all time
What is this stat?
I went to statmuse and I typed in “most 35 point playoff games” and it gave me a list of of players who scored 35 or more points in those games…Brunson avgs 40-4-7 in 17 such games
He has his flaws but the vast majority of teams(the pistons for one) would love to have him
Honestly I don’t wanna take credit away from our wings but it does seem like Mitchell just disappears sometimes.
Also not to rub it in but it feels real good to finally be on the aggressive side of mismatch hunting (thanks harden)
To give him a little credit, he was on fire in game 1.
A game that we lost. Where he disappeared in the 4th quarter and OT. You know, when it mattered most.
Dude looks gassed and/or hurt. He doesn’t have his normal explosiveness getting to the rim.
the whole cavs team was bad at distributing this game. 15 assists vs 32. their offense felt so iso heavy.
Mitchell looks kind of disinterested at times to go all out. Shot only 1-6 in the 4th and OT Game 1. While he had 26 tonight, you’re kind of waiting for him to turn it up a notch but he doesn’t.
Mitchell is a shooting guard, Brunson is a PG. Both get targeted on defence, but you can also pick on Mitchell on offence, which forces harden to dribble the entire game which kills him late game and makes their offence more predictable (and TOV). I’d be hesitant to say Mitchell is a top 20 player even tbh.
lmfao people just say anything
Steve Nash-like performance.
Incredible player. I would be delighted to see Brunson lead the Knicks to a title.
Wild to hear from a pistons fan. Much respect
Coming from a pistons fan—respect!
As a Cs fan, I share the same view. Mike Brown is making his haters (myself included) eat shit and I’m happy to be proven wrong in this case.
Much respect man thank you
[deleted]
This is not true. I hate the nets, the Cavs, the pistons, the raptors, the heat, the bucks, the clippers, the hawks, the bulls, the magic I hate all of the 76ers team (not just embiid) and of course Boston and the pacers. I despise most of the east teams
Maxey is good but I was not happy at all when we were getting cooked by him. I really hate the 76ers I love that we own them.
As much vitriol as our fan bases have had for each other this year…much respect.
Crazy shit is, I never hated Detroit lol
If it’s any consolation I was way more scared at the prospect of seeing the Pistons in the ECF after the series that happened last year. The Cavs don’t spook me like the Pistons do.
Honestly man with all the lip-flapping about how the west is the only place good teams play and treating the east like it’s the G-League, I’ll probably be rooting for the ECF to come out every year the rest of my life lol. (Unless it’s the T-Wolves with my boys Randle and DVo)
Nash wouldnt’ve gone 1-7 from three but well take it lol
Jalen the Creator
17⁄19 points in the second half, 10⁄19 points in the fourth. I knew my goat would come alive in the second half. He really never lets us down
Man, I must be tired from my day. I read the headline as “Jalen went 19 for 14 today” and for some reason I was just like, “man, he’s REALLY good, I didn’t know you could even do that”.
I did the same thing, but because I didn’t know Knicks players were allowed to do that lol
Jesus this dude is clutch. It’s like he can only play well when his back is against the wall lol.
Someone say the line
Everyone’s better than Jalen Brunson until it’s time to be better than Jalen Brunson
While we at it “fuck them picks” too
the 5 picks for bridges?
Nope, last years 2nd from the JB tampering
oh ok
Jalen Hurts fans started this btw.
I know Hurts got a SB, but it’s been so fitting for Brunson
Jalen Hurts also the only QB to throw an interception and fumble on the same play
As a rare Eagles and Knicks fan, i love this phrase
oh yeah lol
Everyone’s jalen than brunson until it’s brunson to be better jalen than
lmao
He’s a shipwright who’s coating Franky’s brother
WE ARE THE NEW YORK KNICKS WITH OUR NEW YORK DICKS
Everyone’s better than Jalen Brunson until it’s time to be better than Jalen Brunson.
That’s my mfing point guard
That was Dallas’ mfing point guard
Dallas fumbling both Brunson and Luka is a perfect example of Nico’s folly lol
He doesn’t think that players who aren’t good defenders can be valuable
And look where they are now.
They even traded away AD lmao
At the end of the day, shot creators are just more valuable than good defenders especially in Playoffs where every weakness and tendencies get analyzed and exploited
Isn’t it typically the opposite? Teams led by scoring guards who can’t D can win games in the regular season but then playoff time comes around and they get hunted to the point that they become a liability.
You can cover for bad defenders like what we’re doing now with Brunson. Our coaching staff adjusted well after CJ McCollum torched Brunson game 2 and 3. Cavs wants to put Brunson in PNR action only for us to blitz the handler and let others beat us.
However, when a game slows down and defenses are high, you need someone to give the ball to and ask him to create something from nothing. Basketball is just a star driven sport.
Dallas really had two of the Top 5 Point Guards in the league on their roster at the same time and let them both go and only netted AD, Max Christie, and a first round pick.
almost a Steve Nash-like game… if only he hit more threes lol
He’s going to be the best player on the court in the NBA finals. Doesn’t matter who the opponent is.
Brunson taking down Wemby would be the ultimate mindfuck for the “you can’t win with small guys” archetype FC crowd lol
It would forever change discourse on what the star on a title team needs to be
David vs Goliath loading.
The thing is that the “small guys can’t be 1st option” crowd always say “except Allen Iverson and Steph Curry, but Brunson is not those guys”
If Brunson manages to lead the Knicks to a title, he simply proves he is in fact on the same level as those guys
I mean… He’ll prove to be at a higher level than Iverson.
its a team game at the end of the day.
And then theres gonna be another player ppl will say can’t lead a team to a championship due to his height and they’ll use Brunson and curry as examples lmao
Would be great to see a Becky Hammon apology but on the other hand it would lead to a ton of dumbass teams drafting small guards with the expectation of them being the next Brunson
Hope Brunson will shout out Becky Hammon. I know he wouldn’t, he’s way too classy too stoop that level of pettiness but a guy can dream.
God that fucking dumbass talking point has done so much damage to basketball discourse
Not if he plays the Spurs
Ngl the offense above all types like Jokic Luka and Brunson have done a lot better against Wemby head to head than other two-way players have
It’s like nobody is going to match his two-way impact so it’s best to have your superstar be all out on finding ways to solve the Spurs’ defense
if it comes to that point the spurs might throw some shai lvl coverages on him, we’ll see how he performs if that ever happens
Yeah, people were saying nuggets thunder spurs is like rock paper scissors and I agree (disregard the nugs playing like dogshit for the sake of the thought experiment). Historically it’s Joker beats Wemby, Wemby beats Shai, Shai beats Joker
The Knicks have actually played well against the Spurs this year….. They don’t fair anywhere near as well against the Thunder though.
especially if he plays the Spurs
— an overly excited Knicks fan
Nice rage bait
Brunson is just so much better than Dmitch. Harden is also a liability
He’s just so much better than Spida. The Knicks made the right decision
I’m not gonna pretend I liked the signing. Even I thought it was an overpay. That’s a pretty common opinion among our fanbase as well. I am glad he proved us wrong and much more.
He was absolutely more of a Playmaker tonight, and that’s exactly what he needed to be.
I’d be happy if Knicks won the title this year.
Better playoff performer than SGA
The facilitator
More than a scorer!!!
There’s maybe 3 players in the league I’d trade Brunson straight up for and none of them are in the east.
Honestly agreed. Nobody in the East would be worth trading Brunson for, especially with PG being as valuable as it is. Maybe Cade is as close as it gets? West, though, love Brunson but would still deal him for Wemby, SGA, or Luka.
The only one for me is Wemby, I think anyone else isn’t enough of a return to justify messing up the teams chemistry
Youre right on a pure basketball level, but taking into account the story of this underrated guy standing up for NY and making the Knicks relevant again I wouldn’t trade JB for a single guy in the NBA. Nobody in the league embodies being a star in NYC more than Brunson.
Brunson dominated last game with his scoring and now this game with his playmaking.
Letting Brunson walk from the Mavericks might be a bigger blunder than trading Luka.
I agree when considering he only was asking for $55 million
the mavs had two of the 3 best point guards in the nba on their roster and got 1 pick in total for them in the end
Better than Shai 😹😹😹😹
Shai is better…..at buying more outfits
Also didnt get FT until 4 mins left in the game.
Brunson just levels up in the playoffs, he will do what the team needs.
An off shooting night but man Brunson’s playmaking is so under looked and he reminded people of it today.
Once again; Jalen Brunson has saved my life.
Off night shooting, oh he’ll just drop 14 assists
Why couldn’t you get me 1 more point sweet sweet JB
I thought the title meant he made 19 of his 14 shots and I was really impressed
First time that FGM is above FGA
I guess this series is a wrap unless Cavs finds a new and different way of playing against the Knicks.
Bro pulled a Shai and managed to grift a passable TS% by the buzzer 😭