NEW YORK — As Jalen Brunson has risen to NBA stardom, Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle is often asked if he saw it coming. Carlisle coached Brunson for three seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, overseeing his rise from useful second-round pick in his first season to top sixth man in his third. Over the last three seasons with the New York Knicks, Brunson has emerged as a perennial MVP candidate.
“I’m not surprised,” Carlisle said. “Knowing his level of determination, how much of a winner he is and how he really has always embraced the doubters. He loves proving people wrong.”
Success in Carlisle’s new gig hinges on his ability to stop Brunson. Or at least slow him down. Lost in the mayhem of Indiana’s 138–135 overtime win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals was Brunson going off. He collected a playoff-high 43 points. He shot 60% from the floor. He was 12 of 14 from the free throw line. There were some uncharacteristic mistakes down the stretch, but for most of the game, Brunson was brilliant.
“Making it hard on him is difficult because he finds angles,” Carlisle said. “He gets places and he makes it. He routinely makes shots that if most players took them, you’d say that’s a bad shot. But he’s a bucket man. He just gets the ball in the basket.”
Added Pascal Siakam, “He’s a tough cover and he’s been doing it for a long time. Every series, he just finds a way to get the ball in the bucket.”
The Pacers’ game plan against Brunson begins with attempting to drain his gas tank. In Game 1, Aaron Nesmith, a physical, 6' 6" wing, picked Brunson up full court. Throughout the game, seven Pacers defended Brunson for at least one minute, per NBA.com. None was able to slow him down.
“We threw four or five guys at him and he was still able to score at will,” said T.J. McConnell, who was among the Brunson defenders. “So we’ve got to make some adjustments there.”
Whatever Indiana has got, Brunson has seen it. He averaged nearly 30 points per game in the conference semifinals against the Pacers last season, shooting 46.1% from the floor. In three regular-season matchups this season, Brunson averaged 22.3 points, connecting on 50% of his threes.
McConnell said Indiana’s strategy was to make it “as difficult as possible” for Brunson—something the Pacers discussed at length in team meetings on Thursday—while acknowledging the challenges of executing it.
“It feels like he doesn’t have very many weaknesses,” McConnell said. “I mean, with his ability to shoot and drive the ball, and he can score from three levels. That’s why it’s pretty much hard for all of us to guard him. We just got to try to slow him down. He’s a complete player, a three-level scorer. Call it whatever you want. He’s just a really good basketball player.”
Brunson isn’t Indiana’s only priority. The Pacers lost the rebounding battle in Game 1. Mitchell Robinson was a force on the offensive glass. Defensively, Carlisle noted the 69 points Indiana surrendered in the first half. They know they must do a better job on Karl-Anthony Towns (35 points) and try to force the game to be played at a faster pace. And while the Game 1 finish was thrilling, the Pacers need to put it behind them.
“There’s just a lot of areas, every aspect of defense, transition, pick-and-roll, isolation,” Carlisle said. “Certainly block outs, coming into the series, there was a lot of talk about it. We got to do better there.”
Still, in a close game it could come down to stopping Brunson. Foul trouble limited Brunson to just 6 ½ fourth-quarter minutes in Game 1. He scored 10 points but committed a key turnover with 26 seconds left and finished the quarter at -7. But Brunson is the reigning Clutch Player of the Year for a reason. The Knicks can’t count on him making many mistakes again.
“You got to have a toolbox full of tools [against Brunson],” Carlisle said. “And not all the tools are going to work.”