Jalen Brunson approaching Michael Jordan record amid insane scoring streak

For additional context, it took James 19 games to notch his eight 40-point performances. It took Shaquille O’Neal 23 games to get his five 40-burgers and Hakeem Olajuwon needed 17 to get his. For Brunson, it took just 11 games. Bernard King is the only player on that list to match Brunson by recording his six 40-point games in 11 games. He also did it while playing for New York.

If the Knicks advance, Brunson seems super likely to at least match James’ incredible feat. New York, of course, still has work to do in this second-round series against Indiana, so Brunson could even match Jordan, Iverson and King if he comes through in Game 6.

Jalen Brunson on historic tear during Knicks’ 2024 playoff run

The volume at which Brunson shoots is often brought up as a slight against him. In the playoffs, he has a usage rate of  36.5 percent, the highest of any player. His 27 field goal attempts per game are the highest, too, with the next closest being 23 (by Tyrese Maxey and Luka Doncic). So, yes, Brunson is shooting more than anyone. But it’s not that simple.

While it is true that Brunson shooting so much does give him more of a chance to post gaudy numbers, he also has to overcome a lot of tough defense and maintain efficiency. If the Knicks ran this much offense through someone who couldn’t score efficiently from the field or get to the foul line, they would have been eliminated already.

The Pacers’ defense isn’t very strong but the team can still key in on Brunson heavily since no one else on the Knicks is capable of consistently getting their own shot. Josh Hart can push in transition and score at the hoop, Donte DiVincenzo can cut into space to launch threes or throw down a dunk and Isaiah Hartenstein can roll and score with his floater. But they all need someone to puncture the defense first and give them the space to attack in the halfcourt. That’s where No. 11 comes in.

The Knicks do a great job of using Brunson off the ball to get him going downhill and give him passing options. Whenever Brunson is off the ball, the ball-handler often looks to get it right back to him with a handoff. Hartenstein’s playmaking goes a long way — it showed on one of Brunson’s best highlights of the night — and being able to reject screens and cut backdoor when defenses play too far up adds additional wrinkles.

Jalen Brunson has to create so much offense for the Knicks because of Julius Randle’s season-ending shoulder injury. For as much as he has struggled in past playoffs, not having him leaves New York very shorthanded. Injuries to OG Anunoby and Bojan Bogdanovic take away more scoring/shooting threats. While this style of play may not be sustainable, it’s incredible that a single player — let alone a small guard — can be the engine for his team the way Brunson is for the Knicks.

Game 6 between the Knicks and Pacers will be at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday night. New York has the chance to advance to its first conference finals since 2000. In what has already been a very testy, physical series, the next game (and a potential Game 7) will be very hard-fought.