Jalen Brunson addressed reporters, offering insight into his mindset ahead of a second-round series with the Boston Celtics.
The All-Star guard downplayed individual rivalries but acknowledged his early encounters with Celtics forward Jayson Tatum during high school showcase events.
“We played against each other,” Brunson recalled. “It was one of those national showcase things… in West Virginia. Pretty cool experience, especially for a public school.”
Brunson, who scored 40 points to close out the Pistons, spoke about how rankings weren’t a personal motivator during those high school matchups.
“For rankings, no,” he said. “We started to get a little bit more national attention, and so it was pretty cool… just a really fun experience, something I’ll never forget.”
Asked about defending Tatum in one of those games, Brunson corrected the record with a smirk: “He had 48, though.”
Turning attention to the upcoming series, Brunson will now face one of the NBA’s top backcourts in Jrue Holiday and Derrick White.
“They’re going to compete, they’re going to be tough,” Brunson said. “We have to be ready, we have to be sharp. It’s a tough task at hand.”
When asked about his approach to facilitating versus scoring, the Knicks’ floor general emphasized feel over predetermined decisions.
“You don’t want to predetermine,” he said. “Just reading the game… get in the paint and make plays for myself and others.”
Brunson also pushed back against the idea of adjusting to defender profiles, joking, “I mean, I would prefer no one guarding — that’s my preference.”
The Celtics swept the Knicks 4-0 in the regular season, but Brunson wasn’t focused on past results.
“They played better than us, for sure,” he admitted. “We can’t have that mindset at all. We got to be different, we got to be ready to go.”
He pointed to defense and transition play as the keys to upsetting the second-seeded Celtics.
“Our offense is going to have to come from our defense,” Brunson said. “Getting stops and getting out in transition and playing fast.”
Asked about Boston’s high-volume three-point shooting, Brunson reiterated his focus on quality over quantity.
“We got to create good shots for us,” he said. “We don’t want to take a lot of bad threes… that leads to long rebounds and gives them what they do best.”
Brunson also detailed how the Knicks’ offense balances play calls with improvisation.
“It’s a mixture of everything,” he said. “It’s all about us talking to each other, feeling the whole game out.”
