What makes Jalen Brunson so good? 10 videos that show why Knicks’ 6-foot-1 star is NBA’s best clutch scorer

Remember when Jalen Brunson wasn’t a “1A” player for an NBA championship-caliber team? It might seem like an eternity ago when that was a talking point in the NBA, but it was actually something that was discussed just last season. Now, Brunson has been the best fourth-quarter scorer in these NBA playoffs, by a wide margin.

In fact, through Wednesday night’s games, the Knicks star had scored a total of 86 fourth-quarter points in the playoffs. The next highest figure was Jamal Murray‘s 46. He was followed by Anthony Edwards and Kawhi Leonard with 45 and then Jayson Tatum with 44. If that weren’t impressive enough, how about this … Brunson is now averaging 10.8 points in fourth quarters on 50.8% shooting from the field and 41.2% shooting from the 3-point line.

This from a man who is only 6-foot-1.

So, for the average sports fan who may just be tuning into the NBA for the first time this season now that it’s playoff time, the question is — how is the smallest player on the court dominating the biggest moments?

Let’s start with the obvious. He’s a true three-level threat who, just in the fourth quarter of the first two ridiculous wins over the Celtics to start their second-round series, has scored on movement 3s, tough mid-range jumpers, rim finishes, and by getting to the free-throw line. In short, he’s got it all in his bag and it all stems from an elite overlap of skill with the ball in his hands and natural instincts (or “feel”).

Those are broad terms though. More specifically, what gives Brunson a unique ability to compensate for his lack of size and explosiveness, is that he has complete command of a number of nuances. Let’s dive into 10 instances that showcase his skill.

1. Elite shot-making

While we think of Brunson operating mostly off a live dribble. But, believe it or not, that may be the way opposing defenses want it, because he’s absolutely lethal playing off the catch. He made 42% of his catch-and-shoot 3s this season, and that number was the same whether he was contested or not. In the playoffs, he’s shooting an incredible 53% on catch-and-shoot 3s. So far in the Celtics series, he’s made two in the fourth quarter. One off a “blind pig” flair and another off an offensive rebound kick-out.

2. Patience off the bounce

When Brunson is operating off the bounce, his first gift may just be his patience. “Pace” has become a trendy, or condensed, way of saying he plays at his own pace. In other words, he doesn’t get sped up. In Brunson’s case, whether he’s in isos or operating off of ball-screens, he’s rarely even trying to blow right by his man or turn the corner off his initial move. Instead, he’s just looking to create an angle or enough of a weight shift in his defender to provide that initial advantage. It’s a methodical approach that seems consistent with the stoic, sometimes borderline expressionless look, he’ll often wear on his face.

3. Footwork

Brunson has pristine footwork. Not just on the catch, but after picking up his dribble. He has multiple pivots, step-throughs, and fakes, all while maintaining his pivot foot. He’s spoken in the past about how the root of this footwork actually came from studying post work, or put another way, throwback big men. Sometimes, Brunson turns his drives into post-ups as a way to weaponize that throwback footwork, and has had success doing so even against bigger defenders.  

4. Creating contact

Brunson has a low center of gravity and a thicker, more compact build than most guards in the NBA. So, while he may not be the quickest or most explosive, he’s one of the strongest, particularly in his lower body. He rarely gets knocked off his spots and, to the contrary, knows how to use his body to create, and especially keep, his angle. That physicality is also a major asset when it comes to drawing contact, and Brunson has developed quite a few tricks of that trade. Getting easy points is a requisite for any dynamic scorer, and when you can’t rely on size or athleticism to pressure the rim, getting to the free-throw line is an efficient alternative. In the NBA, learning to get fouled is a skill in its own right, and while it can infuriate opposing fan bases (like the Pistons), Brunson now baits-and-flops with the same precision he shows in the rest of his individual offense.

5. Balance

Another by-product of that lower body strength is extreme balance, and this may actually be Brunson’s greatest superpower. For all of the emphasis on eliminating mid-range shots, the alpha scorers still need those, particularly in late shot-clock situations. Because of the amount of attention he receives from opposing defenses, Brunson rarely gets rhythm pull-ups. Instead, he has a deep arsenal of runners, fade-aways, and step-backs and yet he still shoots 48% on dribble jumpers inside the arc. Why? Because he has the body control to maintain his balance on all of those shots, even when he’s in mid-air or shooting off his back-foot. Just like this dagger he hit over top of Jrue Holiday late in Game 2 to give the Knicks the lead.

6. Separation

To get the balance on his floater, Brunson will often drive down hard on his final forward step, almost to hit the brakes mid-drive or “decel.” He’ll use a similar maneuver to create separation off the dribble and it already resulted in one of the biggest moments of these NBA playoffs so far. When Brunson shook Ausar Thompson in the final moments of the Knicks’ series-clinching Game 6 win over the Pistons, he created a staggering amount of separation against a very talented defender. He was able to do it because he took a long stride with that left leg and yet was able to plant, stop, and then push off in the opposite direction, all in one motion. Fans saw Thompson fly out of the picture, Brunson bring the ball back through his legs, and then drill the jumper, but the key was the left leg.

7. Finishing package

Brunson hasn’t dunked the ball all season according to Synergy Sports. So how does a 6-foot-1 guard who doesn’t dunk still finish 60% of his shots at the rim? Well, he has an advanced lay-up package. The building blocks are many of the same characteristics we’ve already highlighted in other areas — strength, balance, understanding how to use his body to shield off defenders, and deceleration, all of which is supplemented by soft natural touch and the dexterity to finish with either hand on either side and off either foot or two feet.

8. Ball security, passing and eye manipulation

Brunson has now played seven NBA seasons. In each one, he has averaged more assists than the year prior. This season, it was 7.3 per game, up from 6.7, even though he played the exact same number of minutes. Maybe more impressive, though, is the way he takes care of the basketball, while producing so much offensive volume (second-highest usage in the NBA regular season). In fact, he is one of just three players in the league this season to average more than 80 touches per game with less than 2.7 turnovers. But Brunson doesn’t just read the floor, he manipulates the floor. When his scoring prowess draws multiple defenders to the ball, he’s one of the very best in the entire NBA at using his eyes to make the defense move the way he wants.

9. Pick-and-roll prowess

Nearly 40% of Brunson’s offensive possessions come when he’s moving off a ball-screen. The Knicks generate 1.04 points per possession in those plays, which ranks in the 88th percentile of the league. Again, there’s overlap with numerous variables we’ve already explored, but his ability to read the coverages and manipulate them to his advantage is critical. Down the stretch of Game 1 against the Celtics, he forced Holiday to switch with Al Horford twice, despite seeing two different coverages. In the first clip, Horford is attached to Karl-Anthony Towns, showing a likely intention to switch, but instead of allowing him to do it in the middle of the floor as planned, Brunson uses the same left leg crossover we saw against Thompson, at just the moment when Holiday commits, to force Horford to chase him away from the help. In the next possession, Horford has adjusted and is now in a “drop” below the level of the screen. This time, Brunson gets immediate separation from the screen, forcing the switch, and then strings out Horford before dropping a second dagger 3. The fact that he has the high release to score over the 6-9 defender is just another weapon in the arsenal.

10.  The intangibles

This could be another list all together. The work-ethic, leadership, sense for the moment … everything that goes into the mindset and approach to maximize every bit of natural talent in his body. Perhaps Brunson said it best himself when he was asked what young kids could take from his game and he responded, “No matter how big, strong, fast, or talented, it’s all about your hard work, the things you put into the game.”