The New York Knicks are finally showing signs that they’re ready to ditch the mess-around-and-find-out schtick they like to break out against clearly inferior opponents. If taking care of business once again becomes the new normal, it leads to an occasionally lighter workload for Jalen Brunson, which will then let them enjoy an even better version of him the next game.
We have the receipts to prove it.
Brunson logged under 30 minutes for the first time all season during New York’s butt-whooping of the Chicago Bulls. While he returned to his usual splendid self for that game, dropping 33 points on 17 total shot attempts, history tells us his next outing has the chance to be just as good, if not even better.
Jalen Brunson scores more efficiently after playing fewer minutes
Brunson has logged under 30 minutes 32 times since joining the Knicks. After removing his Bulls detonation from the equation (he hasn’t played again yet) and striking one occasion in which his sub-30-minute performance was his final appearance of the season, we’re left with a 30-game sample size.
Through 30 follow-up performances, Brunson scores at a rate of 28.9 points per 36 minutes. Across all other games in a Knicks uniform, he’s averaging 26.7 points per 36 minutes.
Although an 8 percent scoring boost doesn’t sound like much, it’s a sizable bump when you’re talking about an all-world bucket-getter. More importantly, Brunson is noticeably more efficient after he’s played under 30 minutes in the previous game.
Especially from inside the arc.
Brunson is shooting 55.7 percent on two-pointers following sub-30-minute outings. That number slides to 51.6 percent in all other games. A four-point boost is something, particularly when you consider the reigning Finals MVP traffics heavily in ultra-difficult jumpers.
True to this trend, Brunson’s three-point percentage gets a tiny nudge as well. And the true shooting mini-surge is pretty wild when put into perspective.
Dropping 28.7 points per 36 minutes on better than 61 true shooting is no joke. Here’s everyone who did it last season: Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Victor Wembanyama.
This isn’t about the Knicks lowering Jalen Brunson’s minutes
Playing Brunson under 30 minutes on a permanent basis is a non-starter. It can’t be done unless the Knicks always play like the team that ripped off perhaps the most dominant playoff stretch of all time.
This is more about limiting Brunson’s workload wherever possible. The Knicks have only done it once so far this season, but there were more opportunities.
New York trailed by as many as 19 points in their first win against Chicago. It also left a victory over the Brooklyn Nets in doubt longer than it needed to with a soul-sunderingly bad third quarter. And let’s not forget the Knicks were behind by double digits during their win versus the Jalen Duren-less Detroit Pistons.
Making the most of these opportunities is important. It is a long season, and the Knicks writ large are coming off not one, but two consecutive deep playoff runs. Every night in which they don’t have to run their starters aground is its own separate victory.
And if the data is any indication, Brunson’s performance in the subsequent game will lead to yet another one.
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