Jalen Brunson makes life easier for Knicks with playoff career-high 14 assists in Game 2 win
The Cavaliers didn't want Jalen Brunson to score too much, so the Knicks guard became the facilitator in New York's Game 2 win on Thursday night.
After the monster game Jalen Brunson had in the Knicks ' improbable comeback win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavaliers knew they had to change their game plan. Instead of letting Brunson do his thing and shutting down the other scorers, Cleveland focused their energy and defense on stopping the Knicks captain. That, however, also didn't work as Brunson dished a playoff career-high 14 assists in the Knicks' 109-93 Game 2 victory on Thursday night.
"That’s what great players do. They read the game and the game dictated that," Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters after the game. "Obviously, we were loaded up more toward him and he found other guys.
We gotta find that balance. But 14 assists, credit to him. [We] took away some of the scoring options, blitzed him, gave him different looks.
He made the right reads, right plays. " "As an MVP candidate, Jalen Brunson's job is to make the game easier for his teammates," Mike Brown said. "That's what he did.