Jalen Brunson is the Knicks' best player. He is also their most important player. He is also the player most responsible for them reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in a quarter of a century. The Knicks ask everything of Brunson, and now they must ask more. If the Knicks are going to reach the finals, Brunson must perform better than he did in Game 3.
Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks' defense were the main forces that drove the Knicks to a 20-point comeback in Game 3. Towns was masterful on the offensive end, especially down the stretch, scoring 20 points in the fourth quarter alone. The defense, led by Miles McBride, played some of its best ball of the season to help secure the win.
For Brunson, it was one of his worst games of the playoffs. He finished the game with 23 points, which would be worth celebrating for most players in a playoff game, but Brunson is not most players. You would be hard-pressed to find a single player more impactful to their team than Brunson is to the Knicks.
If the Knicks are to fully dig themselves out of this hole and reach the finals for the first time since 1999, they will need Brunson to be not just the catalyst, they will need him to be perfect.
Tough night for New York's captain.
While scoring 23 points is not terrible, it was everything else. Brunson only had one assist, and his efficiency was horrid throughout the game. The Knicks' captain shot only 33.3 percent from the field and only 20 percent from three.
On top of the poor playmaking numbers comes the costly turnover. Brunson has struggled all series, holding onto the ball. Through three games in this series, he now has 13 turnovers. No other player playing in either of the Conference Finals has double-digit turnovers.
Game 3 was more of the same, as Brunson committed three turnovers. All three turnovers were live-ball turnovers, making them even more costly. Two of them came off poor passes. It was poor decision-making from a player who never seems to get rushed and is usually incredibly risk-averse. The scoring is one thing, but the Knicks can't afford poor decisions from the player who has the ball in his hands more than anyone on the roster.
The fouling needs to stop
The other alarming problem that Brunson has faced this series is getting himself into foul trouble. Brunson played just 31 minutes in Game 3, as he was benched again after picking up five fouls. That is now three times in the Knicks' last five games that Brunson has picked up five or more fouls. In the 10 playoff games before that, Brunson picked up five fouls only once.
The Knicks need to have Brunson available, the costly fouling has to stop. Whether it is fair or not, they are going to ask more of him than they ever have before, and if the Knicks are to beat the Pacers, he is going to have to respond.