New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson had a game he’d like to forget on Wednesday night, as the Knicks lose for the first time in over two weeks and snap their season-long eight-game winning streak.
Brunson had just seven points and shot 3/14 from the field in the loss. While he did have 12 assists in the game, he had a game-high five turnovers, which is also tied for his highest turnover amount in a single game this season.
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The Raptors gameplan was to stop Brunson, and it worked for them:
With the Knicks being undermanned on Wednesday, missing starting shooting guard Quentin Grimes, the Raptors were looking to stop Brunson from going to work.
Toronto played a zone defense that didn’t allow Brunson to get close to the basket, which is where he finds most of his buckets, and it led to missed shots and plenty of fastbreak opportunities for the Raptors.
Brunson also had turnover problems on Wednesday, which is something he has been very good at limiting all season long.
After not turning the ball over once against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, Brunson tied his season-high for turnovers in a single game with five, which was also more turnovers than the entire Raptors team combined (four total turnovers) on Wednesday.
The Raptors defense suffocated Brunson all night and prevented him from being the pure offensive threat he has been all season long.
Brunson spoke to reporters postgame on Wednesday and held himself accountable for his lackluster performance, saying that he feels “terrible” and deemed the performance “unacceptable.”
“Just given the way I played, I feel terrible. It’s unacceptable on my part, five turnovers way too much”, Brunson said. “I think I’m just disappointed in my turnovers. It’s just unacceptable on my part.”
Jalen Brunson via MSG Network
Brunson will look to shake off the bad game and bounce back with a big game coming up against the Chicago Bulls on Friday night at the Garden. The Knicks played the Bulls twice last week, both in Chicago, and Brunson averaged 26 PPG and 6.5 APG while also shooting 9/15 from 3-point distance in the two games combined, completely dominating the Bulls and leading to New York going 2-0 against Chicago.
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