Jalen Brunson 'Embodies What a Knick Should Be,' HC Tom Thibodeau Says

The New York Knicks are back in the playoffs, and it's in part thanks to a career season from Jalen Brunson.

Head coach Tom Thibodeau had high praise for the Knicks' star point guard, who has put up 47 points through the first two games of the first round against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"He embodies what a Knick should be: tough, smart, hard-nosed, competitive, and obviously he's got great talent," Thibodeau told ESPN's Nick Friedell. "You can't do what he's doing without great talent, but when you combine all those other intangibles to it, you have a terrific player."

Brunson was an efficient scorer for the Dallas Mavericks, shooting over .500 from the field for two seasons prior to his arrival in New York, but it wasn't until he joined the Knicks that he began ramping up his shots from behind the arc. He averaged 4.7 three-point attempts, and made 2.0 of them, per game throughout the 2022-23 regular season.

Thibodeau credited this increase to the work Brunson put in after joining the team.

"Immediately, soon as he was signed, he came into the gym and started working out," the Knicks head coach told Friedell.

Thibodeau continued: "There's no shortcuts to this. Your actions reflect your priorities. And so when you come in, in the middle of the summer after you just signed a big contract, and the most important thing to you is every day being in that gym, that says a lot to me."

That work might have been what helped Brunson lift New York to a Game 1 win with 27 points on April 15.

After that shelling, however, Cleveland adjusted its defensive scheme to stymy Brunson on Tuesday. He was limited to scoring on only one of eight three-point attempts in Game 2 and ended the night with 20 points.

The Knicks will need to protect Brunson from the Cavaliers' strong defense if they want to take control of Game 3 when it tips off at 8:30pm E.T. tonight at Madison Square Garden.