Ausar Thompson gave a one-word reply.
A day after Jalen Brunson erupted for 34 factors in his Knicks’ Recreation 1 win over the Pistons, Thompson — Detroit’s go-to defender — was requested what are a number of the greatest challenges he faces when guarding Brunson.
“None,” Thompson replied.
Thompson’s remark adopted a movie session by which the Pistons reviewed Saturday evening’s 123-112 loss at Madison Sq. Backyard, the place the Knicks unleashed 21-0 run within the fourth quarter to take a 1-0 lead within the first-round playoff collection.
Brunson scored 12 factors in that last quarter, together with a dagger lay-up by which he blew previous Thompson with 1:05 remaining.
That capped a 12-of-27 capturing effort by Brunson, who started the sport simply 2-of-13 from the sphere after repeatedly looking for and drawing contact that didn’t lead to foul calls.
Brunson finally tried 10 free throws however solely two within the first half.
“Just don’t foul him,” Thompson mentioned. “He’s good at drawing fouls. Well, he’s good at selling fouls, so you’ve just got to be smarter.”
Brunson completed 3-of-6 on the pictures he tried with Thompson as his main defender in a half-court set, with all three baskets coming within the second half.
The 22-year-old Thompson usually guarded Brunson on Saturday, however foul bother restricted the second-year guard’s time on the courtroom.
Thompson drew a pair of fouls throughout the sport’s first three minutes, together with on a cost drawn by Brunson, and sat out from the 9:21 mark of the primary quarter till the 8:04 mark of the second.
“I’ve still got to be aggressive,” Thompson mentioned. “The first foul, to this day, I still don’t think I fouled him at all. The charge, that was a charge, but I was in a bad position already having a foul. I’m still coming out aggressive, but I’m not gonna give the refs a reason to call anything else.”
Thompson — one of many NBA’s greatest athletes and high defenders — praised Brunson as “a great player” and the “elite of the elite” amongst scorers who play with a herky-jerky fashion.
However Thompson additionally mentioned he “1000%” must take benefit offensively when he’s being defended by Brunson. Thompson scored 10 factors on 4-of-8 capturing on Saturday however tried just one shot in opposition to Brunson, which he made after utilizing a slick spin transfer.
“Just be aggressive, no matter if they’ve got Jalen on me or anybody on me,” Thompson mentioned. “Just be aggressive and be a threat to the other team.”
Thompson completed with 5 fouls in solely 23 minutes, inflicting Detroit to make use of Malik Beasley and Dennis Schröder in opposition to Brunson.
Beasley particularly served as an irritant, making it a degree to provoke contact with Brunson even throughout stoppages.
“We’ve got to put as many bodies as we can on him,” Beasley mentioned Sunday. “AT starts on him. Dennis is on him. Me. I’ve just got to put my body on him, make him feel it, because if it goes down to a Game 7, I want him tired.”
After enduring the Pistons’ early physicality, Brunson went into assault mode down the stretch, efficiently focusing on and scoring in opposition to Tobias Harris a number of occasions.
“I felt like they had a good game plan, and I just had to reset,” Brunson mentioned afterward. “I found a way to get going in the second half. Teammates have the utmost confidence in me, and I appreciate that to the fullest. I just had to find a way to reset and regain composure.”
