Stephen A. Smith Calls Out Jalen Brunson 'Playing to be an MVP' as Knicks PG's Box-Score Stats Trend

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith thought New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson had misaligned priorities in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Assessing the Knicks' 115-111 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Smith argued that Brunson "was playing to be an MVP rather than playing to win Game 3."

"Twenty-five shots in the time that he played," he said of the Knicks guard, starting at the 3:35 mark of the video below. "Karl-Anthony Towns only gets 10 attempts, four in the second half. How does that happen? Josh Hart is hitting shots in the first half; he only gets five shots in the second half. How did that happen? OG Anunoby had 28 points on 13 shots. How do you not find OG Anunoby more considering the level of accuracy and efficiency that he was showing that you're not showing if you're Jalen Brunson in this series?"

Brunson had 32 points in Game 3 but needed 25 shots to get there. He also had as many assists as turnovers (five).

That's the Finals in a nutshell for the three-time All-Star. He has been an inefficient scorer and sloppy with the ball.

Earlier this postseason, Brunson pushed back on the notion he's a "star" and insisted his focus was on the collective rather than his individual production. That's not necessarily how he has operated in the Finals, though.

In a way, New York should be encouraged by the fact its best player isn't performing at his peak, yet the team was close to jumping ahead 3-0 on the Spurs.

Playoff series are always about making adjustments. For Brunson, that might mean taking a step back and ceding some influence to Towns, Anunoby and Mikal Bridges.