Jalen Brunson keeps seeing bodies when he brings the ball up, and the Knicks keep running out of answers. Atlanta has forced him into traffic, sent help from a second defender and helped push New York into a 2-1 hole in the first-round series after three games.
That has made every possession feel heavier for New York, which has no true backup point guard in the rotation and has leaned even more on Brunson than Mike Brown wanted. Brown had hoped this season would bring more offense off the ball for Brunson, but the Knicks have lacked the ball handlers to make that plan live for long.
The problem was plain again in Game 3. Mikal Bridges had four turnovers and sat for most of the second half, while Tyler Kolek remained out of the rotation altogether. When Bridges tried to bring the ball up the floor, it was an utter failure. By contrast, Miles McBride handled the ball during an 11-0 Knicks run in the third quarter, a stretch that showed how badly New York needs someone other than Brunson to steady the offense.
Brunson has still been the center of everything, and no player has had the ball in his hands more often during these playoffs across the league. Atlanta has made that job as hard as possible. Dyson Daniels or Nickeil Alexander-Walker has usually taken Brunson with a second defender shading the play, and in Game 3 Brunson went 3-for-11 and 0-for-3 from 3-point range against those looks. Brunson said both were great defenders, said you have to be smart and tactical, and added that they make things very difficult.
Brown said the Knicks have tried to run the idea of getting Brunson off the ball, but Atlanta has not made it easy. He said they called it a few times and gave the Hawks credit, then said New York had to keep trying to build it into its offense, whether by play call or within the flow of what the team wants to do conceptually. The issue is not just one scheme. It is the roster around Brunson, which has not given the Knicks enough reliable hands to move the burden elsewhere when the pressure comes.
The result is a team that, in McBride’s words, has been playing for its lives. That is the shape of the series now. New York can keep asking Brunson to solve it alone, but Atlanta has already shown through three games that it is ready for that answer.
