Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau entered Monday’s matchup towards the Atlanta Hawks understanding full properly the problem forward. Twice this season, the Hawks’ protection, anchored by Dyson Daniels, had stymied Jalen Brunson, forcing subpar capturing nights from the Knicks’ captain.
This time, nonetheless, Brunson flipped the script.
Within the 3 p.m. Martin Luther King Jr. Day tipoff at Madison Sq. Backyard, the sport dictated a brand new strategy for the All-Star level guard — and Brunson responded by dissecting Atlanta’s protection, drawing fouls on Daniels, and torching the Hawks for 34 factors in a much-needed 119-110 victory.
Brunson shot a hyper-efficient 12-of-18 from the sphere, 3-of-5 from three-point vary, and 7-of-11 from the free-throw line. His means to take advantage of Daniels’ aggression — baiting him into three first-half fouls — was essential, forcing the Hawks’ defensive anchor to the bench and limiting his regular effectiveness.
“When you see something like [Daniels’ pressure], you’re trying to make the right play,” Brunson mentioned postgame. “He was pressuring up, so I was trying to obviously get the ball over half court, use his aggressiveness against him, and I was able to get a foul. The dude’s been playing well all year, and the way he’s been playing, it’s been noticed around the league.”
Daniels picked up a technical foul in frustration throughout the third quarter and fouled out late within the fourth, cementing Brunson’s dominant efficiency. Brunson gestured in the direction of the Hawks bench for a substitution after Daniels picked up his second private within the first quarter. He then had phrases for Atlanta’s defensive stopper when he fouled out with 1:16 to go within the last interval.
“I just said that was six fouls. That’s all. Just stating a fact,” Brunson quipped when requested about his late-game trade with Daniels. “In all honesty, he’s a great defender. I’ve got a lot of respect for him. With trash talk or not, being competitive, that dude can hoop.”
Brunson scored eight factors within the first quarter, profiting from the minutes Daniels spent on the bench. However make no mistake, Daniels bought the work, too — equal-opportunity buckets on MLK Day certainly.
Brunson added 11 extra within the second quarter, attacking Daniels head on. On one possession, he used a Karl-Anthony Cities display to throw Daniels off stability, then drove into his chest for a floater on the rim. Brunson dug deep into his bag to get the higher of his opponent. In any case, it was Daniels who held the star Knicks guard to only a 5-of-15 capturing efficiency within the Knicks’ Dec. 21 NBA Cup quarter last loss to the Hawks at MSG.
“Sometimes you’re going to miss shots, even good shots. Just keep shooting,” Thibodeau mentioned. “Take good shots. The game tells you what to do.”
Brunson used his signature turnaround, fadeaway to get create sufficient area to get a shot to fall over Daniels’ contest within the second quarter. He additionally bought a step-back two to fall with lower than three minutes left earlier than the half.
The Knicks additionally adjusted their offense to mitigate Daniels’ relentless full-court stress. Cameron Payne and different teammates took turns bringing the ball up the court docket, releasing Brunson to exert much less vitality to get the Knicks into half-court units. As an alternative, the Knicks ran offense by Karl-Anthony Cities, who completed with seven assists and located Brunson on off-ball cuts each within the sport’s opening possession and with underneath 7 minutes left for a bucket to place the Knicks up seven.
“I think we were able to get him a little bit more off the ball and not have him bring the ball up,” Josh Hart mentioned. “Sometimes, when [Jalen] brings the ball up, it wastes about five or six seconds, and then it takes a couple seconds to get into something [on offense]. So now we’ve got 12 seconds to really go out there and execute. And we can’t play that way.”
The win snapped a stretch wherein the Knicks had dropped six of their earlier 9 video games, offering momentum as they put together for the second leg of a back-to-back towards the Nets on Tuesday. The Knicks had additionally dropped 4 of their final six house video games earlier than righting their wrongs on Monday.
Monday evening.“I think more importantly, [the focus] was for us to get that win, regardless of who we were playing, just to have a win at home,” Brunson mentioned. “With the stretch of games that we have at home, we’ve got to finish out this month strong. Regardless, it was a big win for us.”
In opposition to an opponent that had dominated them twice earlier than, the Knicks confirmed they might adapt and overcome — led by a captain who let the sport information him and delivered when it mattered most.
“He’s always going to come through,” mentioned Thibodeau.
“I feel like at any given time, he’s capable of having a big night,” added McBride.
