The Sixers Have Figured Out Brunson but it Hasn’t Been Enough

It’s that time of the year, folks! The NBA Playoffs kicked off less than a week ago, and just in case anyone needed a reminder, we have entered a whole different game. As the postseason unfolds, the pace slows down, defenses tighten up and, more importantly, offenses hone in on their bread-and-butter actions.

For Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks, that offensive staple was a traditional spread pick-and-roll, typically set up around the three-point line in the middle of the floor. Brunson led the league in pick-and-rolls manipulated this past season, leaving teams puzzled by the slippery guard’s maliciousness in such situations.

But in the first two games of their opening round series against the Philadelphia 76ers, New York’s usually robust offensive engine has looked like a shell of himself. He’s failed to connect on nearly all his trademark midrange shots, overlooked passing windows he typically exploits, and as even had his shot blocked on several occasions.

The Sixers might just have figured out how the head of the orange and blue-colored snake operates – and yet, they find themselves trailing two games to none with the series heading to Philadelphia on Thursday.

It’s All About Tendencies

Sixers have limited Brunson to 16-for-55 field goals in the first two games

In the second season of a 4-year, $110 million deal, Jalen Brunson and his stellar level of play were rewarded with the first time All-Star nomination of his career. One mind-boggling, spinning and-one at a time, he solidified his status as the dazzling star New York had long yearned for, willing the injury-riddled to the second seed in the Eastern Conference.

With his dexterity and spectacular lower-body flexibility, Jalen Brunson stands out as one of the sport’s most distinctive lead creators. At 6-foot-1, Brunson abuses defenses through head fakes, crafty footwork, and remarkable body control that sets up his left-handed feathery touch.

Given his stature and limited vertical leap, Brunson doesn’t apply much pressure on the rim. Instead, he relies on his striking core strength and bulky stature to abruptly halt his drives, catching defenders and rim protectors off guard with a swift shot release. He attempts nearly double the amount of short mid-range shots as rim attempts – which is altogether pretty wild.

Brunson thrives in the short-midrange area, and when he happens to attack the rim, he predominantly does it with his left hand. As the brilliant defensive mind he is, Nick Nurse has tailored the way his team defends Brunson by giving him a distressing illusion of control. The Sixers are shadowing the former Villanovan’s left side, enticing him to drive to the paint where a convergence of defenders awaits.

Their objective was clear; take away Brunson’s left-handed quests, coerce him into challenging Joel Embiid frontally, and induce one-footed finishes – areas where his offensive prowess simply falters. The Sixers are guiding him towards a selection of shots they’re willing to give up, instead of letting him carve their defense and pick his spots as he’s done all season long.

They deemed those pull-up midranges, upon which he maintained a 49 percent success rate during the regular season, and one-footed floaters as shots they’re willing to live with. Two games in, this strategy has been a limpid success. Brunson is only shooting 4-for-23 from the short mid-range due to the constant pressure disrupting his two-motion shooting mechanics.

Those smothering rear-view contests are precisely where Kelly Oubre Jr. and Nicolas Batum have had their biggest impact. With their length and physicality, they instilled a sense of hesitation within Brunson’s usually methodical maneuvers. Just like that, the 27-year-old All-Star went from always thinking one step ahead, to looking back on his trailing defender endlessly lurking on his next move.

Test Fast, Fail Fast, Adjust Fast

Brunson and the Knicks could find ways to revive his impact

The Sixers’ willingness to give Brunson a slight edge stems from their belief that it puts them in a better position to limit the subsequent damage. To counter that strategy, the Knicks need to find ways to enhance the advantages Brunson possesses and shift the dynamic currently in the defenders’ favor.

Notably, they could try to have Isaiah Hartenstein set his bone-crushing screens higher on the floor to render stunts harder to execute, give Brunson more space to leverage and allow him to attack with more speed.

Since Julius Randle‘s injury back in January, the Knicks had to reinvent Brunson’s impact. Beyond the heliocentric force his usage numbers imply, Brunson has become a wrecking ball without the rock in his bandaged hands. Running around the court, setting screens for teammates before receiving one himself, Brunson’s activity elevated New York’s spaced-out offense to an elite level.

Brunson has had to self-create 53 of the 55 shots he took in the series. To lighten the burden, Tom Thibodeau and his coaching staff could look to involve him in actions where he starts without the ball, gravitating around his synergic partner in screens Isaiah Hartenstein before catching it on the move with an empty wing to work with.

Hart Will Go On

Knicks’ secondary options have propelled the team

The Sixers have keenly left Josh Hart wide open, a 31.0 percent shooter from distance on the season, to clog Brunson’s powerplays. Nick Nurse and his coaching staff are famously known for empowering subpar shooters, and their gameplan couldn’t have been more evident from the series’ onset.

On the play above, the Sixers are “nexting” Brunson’s pick-and-roll, meaning the closest defender on the perimeter is sliding over to prevent Brunson from penetrating and keep Embiid in the paint – directly leaving Hart wide open.

The thing is, Hart has nailed those looks at an alarming rate, converting 8 of his 15 attempts from beyond the arc in the first two games. This includes an absurd off-balance pull-up in transition. He hadn’t hit more than three threes in a game all season – he’s achieved that feat in both games.

Hart has been diligently preparing for this moment, fully aware the Sixers would view his shooting limitations as a weak link to exploit and shrink New York’s spacing. In the week leading up to Saturday’s game one, Hart dedicated time before and after every training session to refine his shooting touch, even enlisting the help of his shooting coach in the Big Apple.

No matter whether this shooting prowess is sustainable or not, they have allowed the Knicks to secure half the win they need to advance – and their success doesn’t solely rely on that.

When it wasn’t Hart confidently launching threes, it was either McBride slithering to the right elbow for crucial jumpers or Bogdanovic drilling back-to-back threes to extend the lead in the fourth. The Sixers seemed to have remedied their defensive rebounding issues, until the Knicks seized two of them in the final minute of Monday’s game, setting the stage for the biggest playoffs moment of the decade in New York.

Additionally, their suffocating physicality and ball pressure have disrupted Philadelphia’s already-stuttering offense, often forcing Embiid to catch the ball 20-feet away from the rim and with significantly less time to operate. The Sixers have clearly had the two best players in the series, yet the Knicks have unequivocally been the better team.

Heading to Philly with a commanding 2-0 lead, the Knicks understand there’s no cause for celebration yet. This lopsided scoreboard isn’t representative of the on-court back-and-forth dogfight we’ve observed – but it is of New York’s unparalleled grit and next-man-up mentality.

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