Jalen Brunson is driving the ball, but his intention is to pass, not to score.
It’s the Knicks’ first offensive possession in their Wednesday night matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers at Madison Square Garden, and New York — riding a season-worst four-game losing streak — desperately needs a victory.
Offensive execution, or a lack thereof, have been central in the NBA Cup champion’s recent meltdown. That largely falls at Brunson’s feet as the leader, floor general and extension of the head coach on the basketball floor, given the Knicks offense has gone stagnant, stale and isolation-heavy, particularly at the start of games, during their four-game skid.
This possession is different.
Brunson advances the ball to half court off of the Clippers’ game-opening miss and immediately shifts All-Star Kawhi Leonard with an in-and-out move that opens a clear path down the middle of the lane.
As help defender John Collins rotates underneath the rim, Brunson rifles a pass to OG Anunoby wide-open in the right corner — the very paint touch to spray three action head coach Mike Brown has been begging for since his arrival in late August, something the Knicks have largely gotten away from after hoisting the NBA Cup in Las Vegas in mid-December.
This play ends fruitless with no points. Anunoby repeats the motion, snap-driving to touch the paint then spraying the ball back to Brunson, who’s relocated to the opposite corner. Brunson retreats and ultimately turns the ball over on a pass to Miles McBride.
That is OK.
It’s OK because the cadence has been reset, a cadence the Knicks stuck to in easily the most competitive game of their last four appearances. Because Brunson got off the ball again and again to deliver the Knicks’ their first victory of the new calendar year.
And now the victories can continue to pile, because order has been restored at Madison Square Garden.
On the very next possession, Brunson let Mikal Bridges advance the ball past half court. Bridges swung the ball to Brunson on the left wing before the captain swung it to Karl-Anthony Towns on the opposite wing. It’s another one of Brown’s foundational offensive staples the Knicks had previously deviated from on display on Wednesday: ball reversals — moving the rock from one side of the floor to the other to move the defense and create an advantage.
Towns reversed the ball back to Brunson, who rifled a pass to Bridges on a cut to the paint. That’s a ball reversal, a quick decision, a paint touch, and a spray out to McBride, who missed an open corner three.
Process over results for a possession that featured all of Brown’s offensive principles.
The process repeats itself over and over again.
McBride advances the ball, pushes it to Anunoby who touches the paint and sprays it back to McBride in the right corner — a quality look at an open three, but he just can’t buy one early. The next time down, Brunson hot-potatoes the ball to Bridges, who gives it to Towns for an ill-advised trailing three, the kind of look you can excuse for a player trying to find his rhythm form downtown.
And then the Knicks are at it again: Bridges initiates a ball reversal, swinging the ball from one side of the floor to other to Towns, who finds Anunoby for an and-one at the rim.
The bucket counted for the Knicks’ first points of the game.
The Knicks fell into a first quarter deficit that swelled to nine when the Clippers took a 14-5 lead at the 8:10 mark of the opening period. But they never deviated from the scrips, never abandoned Brown’s offense staples. Instead they kept running the offense, kept generating quality looks, kept trusting the plan instead of hunting individual baskets.
The result? The Knicks wore the Clippers down and ran up a lead that ballooned to 15 in the fourth quarter.
And guess what? Brunson still got within his scoring threshold on then most efficient night of his season: 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field and four-of-five shooting from deep. He was a perfect four-of-four from the foul line and recorded seven assists and two turnovers.
Just one game prior, Brunson iso-volumed his way to no assists and six turnovers with 25 points on 21 shots. Brunson shot 10-of-23, 10-of-24, 10-of-23, 10-of 21 and 10-of-23 in the five games leading into Wednesday’s skid-snapping victory over the Clippers.
Turns out the Knicks didn’t need more Brunson to free themselves from their place in basketball purgatory. They needed more of everyone else, but getting the most of the other players is part of the captain’s job description.
