It’s a positive development for a Knicks team whose championship aspirations hinge on their captain’s willingness to include his teammates in offensive actions. And it worked well in Game 4, the Knicks‘ most decisive victory of the first round: Brunson didn’t have it going offensively, but Karl-Anthony Towns recorded a triple-double, his 10 assists fueling a 16-point win to even the series at two games apiece in Atlanta on Saturday.
Brunson said it isn’t a difficult decision, especially when the Hawks are sending the double at half court or blitzing him in pick-and-roll scenarios.
“Find the open man,” he said after practice at the team’s Tarrytown training facility on Monday. “There’s two on the ball. Someone has to be open.”
It looked difficult earlier in the season, when Brunson’s isolation-heavy play style lent itself to nine losses in 11 games to start the 2026 calendar year. That style of play won’t work in the playoffs, not with an NBA Finals or bust mandate from ownership. It appeared to be the topic of conversation, too, when the Knicks’ captain and his father, Rick Brunson, engaged in a spirited conversation on the sidelines during Game 4.
Brunson finished with just 19 points and dished three assists to six turnovers, but the Knicks punched their most convincing win of the series. He said hero ball isn’t necessary, especially when the double teams come.
“Not when you have the result we did last game,” said Brunson.
Instead, Brunson set solid screens to create cutting opportunities for his teammates. OG Anunoby led all Knicks with 22 points in Saturday’s victory, six field goals assisted by Towns.
“The thing about [Jalen], he’s a great screen setter. He has a really good change of pace where he slips and stuff like that which can cause confusion,” head coach Mike Brown said after practice on Saturday. “So, Jalen is about as coachable as they come. If I had to coach his father, it might be different. Sorry Rick. Jalen is right up there with the Steph Curry’s of the world.”
Miles McBride said he isn’t surprised by Brunson’s willingness to get off the ball as a player who uses the majority of Knicks possessions in his minutes on the floor.
“I feel like that’s who he’s been. I think he does a great job of gravitating multiple defenders to him,” said McBride. “Teams are gonna do that on purpose. He does a great job of getting off it and trusting his teammates to make plays.”
That could change based on how the Hawks game plan for the Knicks after Towns’ Game 5 masterpiece. The Knicks ran the lion’s share of their offense through Towns as an offensive hub at the top of the key or on the elbow. If the Hawks adjust to double Towns up top, it could mean the ball swings back to Brunson on Tuesday.
“Throughout a series, there’s always going to be adjustments. I think whatever team loses, they have to figure out what they did wrong and how they’re gonna adjust,” said Brunson. “And so, I think it’s just constant adjustments and a constant chess game. You see what move they make and you come back with a different move.”
Brown said he won’t predetermine where the ball will go. He’ll let the Hawks show their hand then adjust the game plan as they diagnose Atlanta’s defensive schemes.
“[We go] by feel. Obviously, trying to get KAT the ball in different spots on the floor helped out a lot and took some of the pressure off him,” he said. “But in the same breath, keeping the ball by using him as a decoy sometimes or a screen setter sometimes. Or sometimes you have him receive a screen and then get back involved in the action somehow some way.”
Brunson is averaging 25.5 points on 41.6% shooting from the field and 38.5% shooting from 3-point range through the first four playoff games against the Hawks.