Celtics
Brunson scored 26.8 points per game against the Celtics in the regular season.
It’s no secret that Jalen Brunson is the focal point of the Knicks’ offense.
The Knicks’ star guard won Clutch Player of the Year for his play in the fourth quarters of games during the regular season, averaging 26 points per game before the postseason. Brunson’s upped his game since the start of the playoffs as well, scoring 31.5 points per game in their first-round series win over the Pistons.
Bruson’s best performance of the series came in New York’s series-clinching win on Thursday, scoring 40 points in Game 6. The final three points he scored came in the final seconds as he broke a 113-113 tie. It also marked the fifth time in six games that he scored at least 30 points in the series.
Suffice it to say, the Celtics’ hands will be full with Brunson when they take on the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Joe Mazzulla knows that as well, laying the groundwork for what his team has to do in order to try and slow down Brunson when he met with reporters on Friday.
“You can’t just do it with one guy, it takes a team. It takes different matchups. It takes different coverages. But there’s got to be a level of physicality, a level of discipline, a level of attention on tendencies,” the Celtics coach said. “If you add up all the points, there are a number of points you can work to be disciplined and work to control.
“At the same time, he’s a great player and he’s going to make plays. To me, that’s why the margins are so important. If you put yourself in a position where you don’t impact the margins at a high level, players of his caliber can get to his spot and get to the free-throw line. It puts you in a tougher spot. Have to defend as a team. Have to be disciplined in our tendencies. Have to do a great job on the margins.”
Guarding Brunson as a team was how the Celtics have approached trying to slow him down in their previous four matchups this season. They didn’t have great success in doing that, though. Even as Boston swept the regular-season series, Brunson scored 26.8 points per game against the Celtics this season, shooting 52.8 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from deep.
Jrue Holiday is arguably the Celtics’ best option at trying to slow down Brunson. He allowed Burnson to make 6 of 13 shots in the roughly 57 possessions that he was the primary defender on the Knicks’ star during the regular season, per NBA.com’s tracking data. However, Holiday is day-to-day with a hamstring injury.
Derrick White is the other option the Celtics can use at guard to try and limit Brunson. White allowed Brunson to make just 4 of 11 shots in the 56 possessions that he was the primary defender on him this season.
The Celtics could opt to try and slow down Brunson with length, too. Jaylen Brown has prided himself in taking on the toughest defensive assignments over the last couple of postseasons. But he had some struggles trying to contain Brunson in the regular season. Brunson shot 10 of 17 from the field in the roughly 72 possessions that Brown was his primary defender. Brown also committed three shooting fouls when guarding Brunson, which was the most of any Celtics player.
Boston didn’t deploy Jayson Tatum on Brunson too much over the regular-season matchups, with the Celtics’ top star only serving as the primary defender on his Knicks counterpart for only 20 possessions. Brunsons made 3 of 4 shots with Tatum on him.
No matter who the Celtics opt to put on Brunson, though, he’ll likely continue to find ways to score. He was one of the best pick-and-roll ball handlers this season, shooting 45.6 percent from the field on such plays while his 1.04 points per possession ranked in the 88.2 percentile.
White has a sense that Brunson will make life difficult for the Celtics in the Eastern Conference playoffs, echoing his head coach’s sentiments on what they need to do.
“Big-time player. Seems to make all the big plays for them. He’s had an unbelievable year,” Whilte said of Brunson. “Obviously, this playoffs he’s taken it to another level. So, it’s gonna be a group effort to try and slow him down and understand that he’s a really good player and he’s going to make really tough shots.
“But just try to make it as difficult as we can for 48 minutes and just have a lot of different guys to try to slow him down.”
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