Knicks guard Jalen Brunson reacting during the Philadelphia opener
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson reacting during the Philadelphia opener
Jalen Brunson missed 13 of his 19 shots Tuesday. The Knicks cannot make every bad shooting night a request for him to create even more offense by himself.
I would test longer stretches with Jose Alvarado initiating alongside him. Let Brunson receive a possession after someone else has moved the defense, instead of requiring him to start and finish every difficult one.
New York lost 106-100 to Philadelphia on opening night. Brunson scored 21 points, made all eight of his free throws and recorded three assists against two turnovers. His shooting was poor. Calling the entire game a careless performance would be a different claim, and the numbers don’t support it.
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson bringing the ball up against Philadelphia
Oct 20, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) brings the ball up court against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Knicks need creation from more places
The starting wings offered little relief. Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby combined to shoot 5-for-20 with one assist. Missed shots can suppress assists, so the total alone doesn’t measure passing quality. It still describes a night in which New York received very little finished offense from those spots.
Alvarado produced eight points, three assists and two steals in 16:30. He isn’t being asked to become Brunson, and his 2-for-3 three-point shooting cannot be penciled into the next game. There is enough here to try a larger initiation role without making that argument depend on another hot shooting night.
I’d use the first action to give Brunson choices: bring him off a screen, let him attack a closeout or return the ball to him after the defense has already shifted. The benefit would be a different starting point for his work, not a guarantee that he takes fewer shots. A good Brunson attempt remains a good result.
Smaller groups need to justify their defensive cost
Philadelphia finished with 28 assists to New York’s 21. Those figures don’t prove that one tactical change explains the result, but they offer a useful reminder that several players can participate in creating a basket. The Knicks have options besides waiting for their best guard to solve a possession late.
There is a cost to playing two smaller guards. A team with Philadelphia’s size can attack matchups, and Mike Brown may reasonably prefer another wing in some stretches. Josh Hart or a center can also begin an action while preserving a bigger group. I wouldn’t eliminate those alternatives just because Alvarado had a productive opener.
Nor would I use his single-game plus-minus as proof that the proposed combination already works. The box score doesn’t establish their shared minutes or isolate who faced which opponent. The proposed rotation experiment still needs testing before anyone declares a statistical conclusion about a lineup.
Brunson will shoot better than 6-for-19 plenty of nights. The Knicks should still make his next good game easier to build, rather than expect improved shooting to resolve every creation issue around him.