Jalen Brunson makes his return: what we saw in the first game of the New York star

NEW YORK – Jalen Brunson has never lost so many games. Not in high school. Not to college. Not in the NBA.

“No,” Brunson said while knocking on wood when he asked him if he had ever been away from the game for so long. “Before Covidid closed the season, I torn my lip in my shoulder. But there were only 10 games before or something.”

The All-Nba New York Knicks guard was an Ironman for all his basketball career, so the return of Sunday evening from an absence of 15 games was a foreign territory. He expected to have a rhythm, however, as if he had never lost a step. Great players tend to think in this way. However, Brunson, who believes it or not, is fatal. There was rust, as there should be. In a victory of 112-98 over the Phoenix Suns, Brunson closed with 15 points and six out of 3 assists shooting in 34 minutes of action. Unusually he had two of his three turnover in the first 12 minutes of the game.

“I could be better, it could be worse,” Brunson said when he was asked to evaluate his performance. “A lot of space for improving my end, of course. I am surprised on the conditioning part. I thought it would be much worse, but it was not as bad as I thought.

“Mentally … only by ensuring that I could trust myself in the things I do. Everyone always speaks of the physical part (of returning from an injury), but, mentally, it is about trusting your movements, the way you play and not a second wearing yourself. It has been a great adjustment, but I feel much better.”

While Brunson scrolled off his cobwebs all night, the man who saved New York has been and over again appeared. Brunson has marked seven of his 15 points in the last two minutes while Phoenix has put around in New York at the end of the fourth quarter.

It will take time for Brunson to return to the player who was before the injury. Usually it is the case for anyone who is put aside for almost a month. With Brunson back to the fold, New York has a week to do what is ready to do all year round, who plays his best basketball at the end of the regular season. It is not possible without Brunson being the best version of himself. And it seems that coach Tom Thibodeau will ensure that Brunton and his team use these last seven days of the regular season to try to find what they were looking for in the last six months.

“While going down the stretch, you want to check the boxes,” Thibodeau said when he was asked for the potential to block seed n. 3 in the next few days. “You want a winning record at home, winning record on the road. Fifty victories are good and you want the highest possible seed. And then you want to play well. We are going step by step. We are not jumping anything. This is the approach we have taken throughout the season, so let’s not change now. We feel like this will help you prepare for what is along the way.”

The Tour de Force of OG ANUNOBY continues with Brunson

If you were worried about the possibility that Og Anunoby’s game took a step back with Brunson in training, on Sunday evening he probably raised his nerves.

Anunoby has been one of the best players in basketball in the last three weeks, with an average of 24.9 points, 1.7 stolen and 0.9 blocks while shooting 52.5 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from 3 in the last 12 games and has discovered an aggression that has been constantly seen before Brunson’s injury. Against the Suns, Anunoby closed with 32 points with shooting 13 out of 17 (team attempts) from the field and a shot of 6 out of 9 of 3.

Of course, Brunson will not only do nine shots and his increase in the field objectives Tale will sometimes in the attempts of Anunoby. However, all that Anunoby has done without Brunson in the photo can continue with Brunson in the photo, as he suggests on Sunday evening. Anunoby was strong in his units. He had a quick trigger of 3. All these things were possible before Brunson was injured.

This is not a scenario or a scenario. The best version of Knicks is a healthy Brunson who does what makes it special (breaking down the defenses from dribbling, entering the paint, making right readings and creating something from nothing) and anunoby is aggressive in the flow of the offense. These two things can coexist and should, magnificently.

Anunoby made actions run for him against him. He knocked down the spot-up shots that came to him. Brunson’s presence should make these opportunities more available for Anunoby. It is important that it remains aggressive and continues to play inside the flow.

Finally, on Anunoby, he approaches 130 crushed this season with a remaining week. He is often among the leaders of the League in the crushes of non -centers. This year is a career sign in punishing the edge.

I just needed to know (I spent my player career passing from a 3 -point line to a 3 -point line): Dunking so bad?

“It depends on the type of dunk you make,” said Anunoby. “Try to avoid your wrists, make sure to accumulate with your hands.”

The rotation questions are gradually affecting the post -station approaching

Brunson not only returned on Sunday, but the Backup Guard Miles McBride also returned from an groin injury after losing the eight previous games and Cameron Payne played two games in a row after hearing time with an ankle distortion.

The Knicks have been relatively healthy this season as regards their appetizers, but they lost the rotation players here, there and for large pieces throughout the year. On Sunday evening it was the first time that New York had its full rotation without any restrictions. With this, Precious Achiuwa, who spent most of the season as a backup center due to the long rehabilitation process of Mitchell Robinson, was out of the rotation in the victory against Phoenix. So it was Delon Wright, who successfully started in the absence of Brunson and Payne.

Thibodeau used a rotation of nine men, with Landry Shamet completing the final point. Come to the post -station, it seems likely that Thibodeau will notice its rotation to eight, perhaps seven (with exceptions depending on how a certain game goes), as it often did in the playoffs last year. My instinct tells me that Shamet will be the strange man who will arrive the playoffs and Thibodeau will mainly rely on McBride, Payne and Robinson outside the bench.

(Photo: Elsa / Getty Images)