Jalen Brunson
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Jalen Brunson's defense has been good over the Knicks' current five-game win streak.
Jalen Brunson does not always get credit, league-wide, for playing well defensively.
Yet, New York Knicks coach Mike Brown has seen Brunson’s defense be a catalyst for their five-game winning streak.
Brown lauded Brunson’s defense after he and the Knicks held budding star Deni Avdija and the Portland Trail Blazers to just 97 points in their 30-point win at Madison Square Garden.
Brunson also led the Knicks with 26 points. They won by double digits for the fourth time in their past five games and held their opponent to fewer than 100 points for the fourth time in that span, as well.
Mike Brown: Jalen Brunson ‘Is A Good Defender’
Brunson is one of the NBA’s best scorers and is the focal point of both the Knicks offense, and the player most opposing teams look to stop.
Yet, Brown thinks Brunson doesn’t get enough credit for playing tight defensively.
“Jalen is a good defender,” Brown said after New York’s 30-point win over Portland on Friday. “A lot of people sleep on that, and I don’t know why they have for years.”
Brown’s response is interestingly timed, particularly since Brad Botkin of CBS Sports published a story that said the Knicks “have to cover for Brunson defensively” if they want to become a title contender.
Brown doesn’t share Botkin’s opinion of Brunson’s defense.
“He’s competitive. He’s feisty. He’s strong,” Brown said of Brunson. “He’s been impressive at … trying to play defense the right way with a chip on his shoulder.”
Plus, Brown appreciates Brunson’s effort, considering how much the Knicks rely on him to score. He leads New York in points per game (27.6) and is eighth in the NBA in that category.
“It’s good to see him doing it especially with the scoring load we put on him at the other end of the floor,” Brown said.
The Knicks Have Been Playing Great Team Defense Lately
Brunson’s dialed-up defensive effort is consistent with the rest of the Knicks, who have turned up the intensity on their opponents over their five-game winning streak. They are allowing just 90.2 points per game in this span.
“I think we’re trusting each other more,” forward Josh Hart said of New York’s recent defensive efforts. “I think we’re just continuing to gain that trust. I think we’re communicating more on the defensive end, which obviously [when] you do that that helps.”
Avdija, who is averaging 25.8 points per game, was limited to just 11 points, on 4 of 14 shooting and tied his single-game season low for points in his breakout season as Portland’s best scorer.
The Knicks blitzed him every chance they could and forced him into more turnovers (4) than assists (3), despite him entering play ranked 12th in the league in assists per game (6.8).
“We just tried to throw a lot of different bodies at him,” Brown said. “We keep telling our guys it’s not just one guy that’s responsible for stopping another guy. You’ve got to be connected, defensively, and it’s got to be five guys on a string, and when that ball moves, everybody should move.”