To be great, a certain sort of “special” is required. To win in the NBA, more than a specific kind of “special” is needed.
Dec. 28, 2024 (OT): Final
 |
 |
|---|---|
In a league that hosts the best of the best, a fine line separates those who live in the Association—just getting by on talent alone—and those who genuinely mark their territory, akin to the neighborhood dog and his many trees. (Michael Jordan just took that personally since he considers each NBA city as officially “marked” by him.)
And that’s exactly the point. The fine line mentioned above directly involves how superstars separate themselves from the pack—something New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson knows well.
When the Knickerbockers needed him most, the veteran point guard delivered. Better yet, his awareness is so on point that he knew it was his time to shine.
Battling it out with the woeful Washington Wizards on Saturday night, Tom Thibodeau‘s team didn’t have much. They were slow, sluggish, and a bit brain-dead at times. So much so that the Knicks were in danger of losing to the worst team in the Eastern Conference.
Hey, listen … it happens. Not even the best teams can win them all. After all, winning six straight games (four of which came on the road) entering the Wizards game isn’t too shabby.
One horrendous loss wouldn’t be the end of the world.
Well, that’s conventional wisdom, and there’s nothing conventional about Jalen Brunson’s world.
Brunson, 28, dropped 55 points en route to a Knicks’ 136-132 overtime victory. Nine of those points came in overtime, and even more amazingly, 42 came after halftime.
The Knicks leader simply would not allow his team to lose on a nondescript Saturday night in our nation’s capital.
Brunson’s 25.5 points per game may lead the Knicks, but it’s a decline from his 28.7 number from last season. Naturally, Karl-Anthony Towns‘s arrival has spread out the top scorers while easing the pressure off New York’s point guard.
Early in the season, the new Knicks transparently tried to find themselves—find out who they are and what they can be. This led to a few grumblings about Brunson’s overall assertiveness (although these grumblings were hardly serious).
Trudging forward as the clear leader of both the locker room and court, Brunson both understood the situation and sought to actively put the puzzle pieces together. On Saturday night, however, he realized that he was the only piece that mattered.
Brunson shot 18 of 31 from the floor, 3 of 11 from downtown, and 17 of 18 from the charity stripe while also collecting 9 assists and 3 rebounds. More simply, Brunson set up and knocked down each Wizards player who attempted to defend him on this night.
Not even Towns’s efficient 30 points on 13-19 shooting and 14 rebounds would have saved the Knicks. Thibodeau’s defense simply could not move quickly enough to do any damage on the perimeter, as Justin Champagnie’s 31 points and Malcolm Brogdon’s 22 points paced a Washington squad that yielded seven scorers in the double-digits.
Better yet, Brunson’s stat line was as impactful as could be. For instance, down six points late in the fourth quarter, his assist that set up OG Anunoby‘s three-pointer was crucial to getting the game into overtime.
In the end, every time his team needed a big play or monster bucket, Jalen Brunson not only delivered but also understood the situation—that he had to deliver.
Weaving his way around the court and cutting up the Wizards in the paint was just a piece of it. The bigger part is the idea that the New York Knicks can always count on this guy to deliver.
The idea that Jalen Brunson knows the proper time to wholly take over a game, in full, and mark his territory could be even more important. And that’s exactly what we saw in the New York Knicks gritty win over the Washington Wizards on Saturday night.
He doesn’t have to always score 55 points; but when he has to, he certainly will.
