Remember when all discussions surrounding Jalen Brunson started and ended with struggling, slow, off, and hangover? Well, you can put those talks to rest.
After starting the season with five straight games of shooting 43% or lower and averaging just 22.8PPG on 36.6% shooting, the reigning Finals MVP has turned things around. In the Knicks’ three wins last week in which they outscored opponents 347-292, Brunson averaged a cool 27.7PPG and 6.3APG while shooting 48.3% from the field, 42.9% from three and committing just 0.7 turnovers per game.
It does pale in comparison to former Mavericks teammate Luka Doncic’s monstrous stat lines that have headlined the young NBA season. The Slovenian forward led his team to a 4-0 record while averaging an absurd 45PPG, 7.0RPG, and 8.3APG. Mavericks fans may be busy elated over the meteoric rise of Cooper Flagg, and rightfully so. But Brunson and Doncic winning it in the same week (something they also did late last November) just months after the former won a championship has to be another reminder of just how badly the Mavericks messed up.
For Knicks fans, though, this was validation for the fans who knew that the captain would eventually turn things around. Much of Brunson’s slow start could be attributed to him just missing shots he often makes. Regardless, there was an odd number of fans, both Knicks and non-Knicks, who wondered if he was coming back to earth. The answer is clearly no. Brunson is back to doing Brunson things, making shots, and running the slowly but surely improving offense while taking care of the ball at an elite level.
Karl-Anthony Towns also gets a shout-out. The center, who’s in the midst of playing some of the best basketball of his career, has been on fire and was amongst the nominees that Brunson beat out. Nickel Alexander-Walker, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Klay Thompson, and Jaylen Brown were the others who lost out to Brunson.