Jaylen Brunson He didn’t do that Tuesday night against the Celtics.
The Knicks guard scored a season-low 15 points on 6-for-21 shooting (1-for-8 from 3-point range) in New York’s 123-117 loss to Boston. Brunson’s performance was indicative of the team’s overall poor performance against the rival Celtics. It started quickly, with the Celtics leading by 11 points in the first quarter and beating the Knicks 73-44 in the second and third quarters. Although the Knicks fought back wildly in the fourth quarter, it was not enough. Brunson scored only 4 points on 2-of-7 shooting in the final frame.
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Despite poor performance, Knicks coach Mike Brown He was undeterred by what he saw from his captain.
“I thought he looked normal,” he said after the game. “He’s got to keep shooting, he’s got to keep getting to his spots. I think he’s getting to his spots, and I think he’s shooting good threes, but they just don’t go in. That happens sometimes. So, a guy like him, if he’s open, he’s got to continue to let the ball fly. Or if he gets to the spot.”
As Brunson struggles, Knicks rely on Mikal Bridges To score on offense.
The forward scored 17 of his season-high 35 points in the fourth quarter (12-of-17 shooting) and hit four of eight 3-pointers to help the Celtics cut the lead to three points in the final minutes of the game.
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Brown was impressed with Bridges’ performance and praised him for nearly completing the comeback.
“He felt it, he was aggressive and I thought our guys did a good job of finding him and he made some big plays for us,” Brown said of Bridges. “He’s one of those guys trying to get us back into the game offensively.”
Bridges’ tenure with the Knicks didn’t go well. The forward wasn’t guaranteed to reach that mark after the team traded five first-round picks for him before last season. He averaged 17.6 points per game in his first season in New York, a far cry from the 20 points per game he averaged in his two years with the Nets.
Although Bridges entered Tuesday’s game averaging 16.1 points per game, the Villanova product has also shown sparks of offensive explosion this season against a world-class defense. Perhaps Tuesday’s performance will carry over 24 hours later, when the Knicks host the Hornets in the second game of a back-to-back.