Knicks leader Jalen Brunson struggling through an uncharacteristic shooting slump on threes
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson reacts after being fouled by the Orlando Magic late in the second half of an NBA game at Madison Square Garden on Monday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
You will never get Jalen Brunson to admit to an excuse, injury or otherwise, to explain away a loss or his own struggles. And admittedly, he doesn’t lose or struggle often.
But as he has worked his way through a problematic right calf it has coincided with an uncharacteristic shooting slump. As he readied to face the Toronto Raptors Wednesday night, hoping to break the Knicks three-game losing streak, he was searching for answers.
In his last three games since returning from a game missed with what the Knicks called calf tightness Brunson has shot just 1-for-10 from three-point range. Add in the game he was listed as questionable but played before the one he sat out and it is 2-for-16 over a four-game span. In his last eight games, he is 5-for-39 from three, shooting 21% overall and 12.8% from three.
“Ebbs and flows to it,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I think there’s going to be stretches where it’s the other way too. Just take good shots, shoot them well. Some have gone in and out on him. That’s part of the game.”
Brunson attempted just one three-pointer in Monday’s loss to Orlando — the first time all season he has attempted that few.
“Yeah and I want him to read the game,” Thibodeau said. “I don’t want him to just jack threes just to jack threes. If he’s being double teamed or they are face-guarding him I want him to make the right play and I think he’s done that.”
“Ball's just not going in for us,” Brunson said after that game. “But that shouldn't be the reason why we're not winning games. We got to find a way to impact the game in other areas when we're not making shots like that. It starts with me.”
Karl-Anthony Towns has been the most accurate shooter from three this season, connecting on 44% of his attempts. But Deuce McBride, who ranks third behind Payne at 40.2%, has been sidelined for five straight games with a sore hamstring. Brunson is still managing 38.9% on the season.
It’s not just Brunson who has been struggling to find the range of late. OG Anunoby is shooting 28.9% from three over his last 15 games. Mikal Bridges is shooting 34.9% on the season, but is just 1-for-12 over the last two games.
Without Brunson shooting from long range and Towns sitting out Monday’s game, the Knicks attempted just 22 three-point field goals and until a last-second shot by Cam Payne in an already-settled game the Knicks had made just three, which would have matched the fewest made threes by any team in a game this season.
Thibodeau does not put an exact number on how many threes he wants his team shooting and stresses the need to take the right shot as the game dictates, but he certainly wants them to be better than 4-for-22.
Even the 35.1 attempts the Knicks average this season ranks them just 24th highest in the NBA.
“Well, you want to be well-balanced,” Thibodeau said. “I think that it’s easy [for] people to look at the volume of threes and then you’re going to go through stretches where you don’t. But it all really starts with getting as many layups as you can. You want to attack the rim, you want to cut. You’d like to have balance to it. We want to get to the line more. We want to get more layups, we want to get good open threes. But we need easy baskets. And everyone is responsible for creating them.
“It’s a compilation of – not only [getting the ball in the] deep paint, creating the space, attacking the space and then making the right read and then after making the right read, relocating. That requires constant movement and that’s where we have to pick it up.”
Notes & quotes: McBride went through pregame warmups but sat out his fifth straight game. “He has to go through all the protocols and when he feels good enough, he’ll go,” Thibodeau said. “He’s doing all he can; just got to be patient and work our way through.” Thibodeau also said of Mitchell Robinson’s progress, “The same. He hasn’t been cleared yet to start practice but he’s doing well overall.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
