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Jalen Brunson is a basketball player second and crash test dummy first.
At least once a game, the New York Knicks point guard will propel himself into someone twice his size — and he’ll do it for the good of the team. Taking charges is part of Brunson’s schtick. But an even more extreme tradition, one that includes bashing his body into bulked-up big men, is the brainchild of Marcus Smart and Evel Knievel.
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It looks like this: Brunson will defend a screen action, usually a pick-and-roll, and somehow he will smash himself into the opponent, forcing the referee to call an illegal screen and getting the ball back for the Knicks. The trend occurs so often, at least once a game, that Benjy Ritholtz of Knicks Film School has dubbed the move “getting Brunsonned.” And it’s not happening just because the point guard is often the shortest guy on the court, or even because flopping like John Carter helps tiny players draw fouls.
Brunson studies this stuff.
“You gotta know who’s setting the screen and what that person likes to do,” Brunson said. “So it’s all about who’s setting it and how fast they have to get out and get to the basket or something like that — or if they hold their screens. … You gotta know their tendencies.”
Once Brunson learns his opponents’ preferences, he’ll mess with their minds, shaking up coverages to surprise them.
Sometimes, after going over screens throughout a game, he’ll head under one — not because it’s the best way to man the ballhandler, but because he knows the screener is about to dive to the rim and that if he barrels into that 7-footer and collapses to the floor, it will be a foul on the offense.
Brunson pulled off the move most recently on Jakob Poeltl in the first quarter of Friday’s match against the Toronto Raptors. He did it in the previous game against the Detroit Pistons, too. And the one before that.
Brunson is turning himself into a punching bag more than any player in recent history. He has drawn 30 offensive fouls so far this season, the most in the NBA. He’s pacing for 129, which would obliterate Anderson Varejão’s record of 99 from 2006-07. Basketball Reference began tracking the stat in 2005-06.
But Brunson’s bruises aren’t just about the point guard, himself. This is part of a bigger theme.
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When Brunson catapults himself into giant humans, he forces turnovers, albeit unconventionally. It’s one of many ways a Knicks defense that has dashed to the top tier of the league is creating low-risk takeaways, any coach’s (but especially this coach’s) dream.
The Knicks deviated from head coach Tom Thibideau’s reputation during the 2022-23 regular season. The offense was potent. But the defense, where Thibodeau’s groups often thrive, was up and down. Those Knicks finished 19th in points allowed per possession during the regular season, though they looked far better during their playoff run, especially in the first-round demolition of the Cleveland Cavaliers, when they forced turnovers and manhandled big men.
But this autumn has gone smoother.
Nineteen games into the season, the Knicks sit at 12-7. Defense has become their identity — and just like when they vaulted to the top tier of the NBA in offense a season ago, they’re using creative ways to succeed.
They are third in the NBA in points allowed per possession. And the markers show the improvement is no fluke.
It’s not like they’ve gotten lucky because opponents can’t seem to make jumpers against them, which was the case a few years ago when they finished fourth in defense. It’s quite the opposite. Opponents are shooting 41 percent on wide-open 3s against the Knicks this season, the fifth-highest percentage in the league according to Second Spectrum on long balls that are, by definition, not guarded. As New York plays more games, that number will likely come down.
Maybe, just maybe, the Knicks remain a fortress.
They lead the league in defensive-rebound rate, thanks mostly to the ravenous Mitchell Robinson, though they are loaded with solid rebounders down the roster. Most importantly, they boast a rare combination: Not only are they forcing lots of takeaways, up from 25th last season to 10th this season in defensive turnover rate, but they’re doing it without fouling much.
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Normally, chaos — even when controlled — is chaotic. But not with this group.
The Knicks allow approximately one free-throw attempt for every five field-goal attempts, the fourth-best ratio in the NBA. They’re one of only three defenses inside the top 10 in both turnover rate and free-throw rate.
Thibodeau’s philosophy is that turnovers should come because of discipline, not because defenders are flocking into passing lanes and leaving open pathways to the hoop when they do it. He tells the team it starts with strong ball pressure and then it’s on the back side of the defense to execute its schemes properly.
The coach credits the ball pressure as one of the main reasons for the turnover improvement. He specifically points out the way defenders have “traced the ball.”
Guarding in the NBA isn’t just about effort or standing in the right places or even keeping your hands up on defense, as any coach will tell you is necessary. It’s about where the hands go. The Knicks emphasize mirroring the basketball.
“You have a ‘dig’ hand (and) deflect hand,” Thibodeau said. “If the ball is being held over the head with two hands, you’re up with both hands. If the ball comes down, now you go into dig, deflect. So, constantly (use) ball pressure. Oftentimes, a ball is not protected. Any time you get the offensive player reacting to you, you have the advantage.”
As Donte DiVincenzo puts it, “There’s such an emphasis on just making them miss, rather than trying to force turnovers,” a change in style for DiVincenzo, who played inside an aggressive Golden State Warriors system that would hunt takeaways but also fouled too much last season.
Considering the Knicks’ values, it’s no surprise they’ve done especially well against ballhandlers who generally bait their defenders into fouls.
“There’s a lot of guys that will try to do a sweep-through move and do certain pickup moves and if (your hand) is not in there, they’ll lose it,” DiVincenzo said. “And next thing you know, it’s three or four turnovers a game that you did nothing. They just completely lost the ball.”
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The guards on the perimeter — especially DiVincenzo, Quentin Grimes, Josh Hart and RJ Barrett — have bought into this. They can be a hint more aggressive when a 7-footer who’s making an NBA All-Defense case is on the court, too.
DiVincenzo didn’t require even a full sentence to explain Robinson’s effect.
“When you know his big ass is behind you …” he said, trailing off if only because the rest of the analysis was too obvious.
“You can pressure a little bit more,” DiVincenzo said. “You can be less conservative in terms of taking risks on the ball and pick-and-roll and stuff because you know when they get downhill and you speed a guard up, they’re going into a 7-footer that can block shots and make it difficult.”
But Robinson, himself, would disagree with a tidbit of that sentiment. A man who once chased after highlight-worthy swats now insists he is no shot-blocker. Robinson is averaging fewer swats than ever — and he’s proud of it.
The 7-footer had a realization while studying film from the past two seasons this summer.
“Damn, I swiped at a lot (of shots),” Robinson said. “Even if I (couldn’t) get it, I’d still swing at it.”
It would lead to too many fouls.
Now, when Robinson meets drivers who love to toss floaters or lobs above him, his hands are up. When a pass-happy one is in front of him, his arms are out. He traces the basketball. He’s hacking opponents less than ever. Entering the season, he had never averaged fewer than 5.0 fouls per 100 possessions. Through the first 19 games of this one, he’s averaging only 3.2. He’s entered mild foul trouble only a couple of times and he hasn’t tallied five fouls in a game all season.
“Let me just play with my hands up,” Robinson said. “I’m a 7-footer. If you finish over me, congrats to you.”
So far, he’s rarely tipped his cap.
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Opponents have made only 39 percent of their shots from floater range this season against the Knicks. That can’t be a coincidence, considering how many drivers pull up short when they see Robinson in front of them and try to loft it over his selfie sticks instead of fighting to the basket.
Something about Robinson’s improvement leaves his teammates without words — not just DiVincenzo, but Hart, too.
“It’s not about you blocking shots,” Hart told Robinson last week after the center vowed he was no longer a shot blocker. Hart continued, “It’s about you … .” Then he stopped talking, placed each palm on his opposite shoulder and shivered as if he saw a ghost.
“They’re scared,” Hart said.
Robinson-induced panic is helping the Knicks with their takeaways, too.
A staple of the defense has been forcing turnovers once the ball gets into the paint. A guard will run a pick-and-roll and arrive in the middle only to meet an outstretched Robinson, whose hands may as well be tennis rackets. Deflecting kickouts to the perimeter or dump-offs to big men has become Robinson’s signature, as if blocking passes is his new version of swatting shots.
Thibodeau constructs his defenses from the paint out. That begins with an intimidating rim protector like Robinson or even backup Isaiah Hartenstein, and it continues with the guys on the perimeter smothering anyone who invades the paint while still hustling back to the 3-point arc when the ball heads back to the outside.
“We’ve prided ourselves on that, of having a tight shell,” Thibodeau said. “We got great rim protection. We have guys who take charges. We’re aggressive on the ball.”
It’s seeping into the culture, too.
Robinson is not the only Knicks defender who has leaped.
Barrett is in the midst of his best defensive season after a dip in 2022-23. He’s climbed up Thibodeau’s power rankings, too. The coach trusted him to guard all-world scorer Devin Booker down the stretch of a recent game against the Phoenix Suns. Even during games when his shot isn’t present, Barrett is part of the cohesive defensive possessions New York has shown off so much over the first month and a half of the season, the ones when a helper helps, then someone else helps the helper and another guy helps the helper’s helper.
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Grimes mans the other team’s top wing or guard just about every night and, though he’s struggling on offense, has cut off snake heads. Immanuel Quickley is the group’s most consistent team defender on the perimeter. Hartenstein is a non-stop communicator, seems to be in the right place always and has mastered verticality, another element Thibodeau points out for why the Knicks have fouled as little as they have. Brunson, despite his size, has been better (and more physical) than ever.
Hart has battled with larger power forwards, stuck with the big wings and is a master at balancing the turnover act, deciphering when to dart into a passing lane and when it’s best to stay conservative.
The same could be said for the newest member of the rotation, DiVincenzo, who signed with the Knicks over the summer and quickly recognized something different about the group.
Defense is a skill, not just the result of a try-hard mentality, DiVincenzo contends. It’s an area of the game he admits he didn’t take enough pride in until his third NBA season, when he became teammates with Jrue Holiday, arguably the best defensive point guard of his generation. Holiday pounded the importance of guarding the right way into DiVincenzo’s brain. It never left.
Now, DiVincenzo’s mentality is not so different from Brunson’s, Hart’s, Quickley’s, Hartenstein’s or the rest of the crew’s. It’s one of the reasons the Knicks prioritized signing him this summer. They knew his personality would fit with a group filled with Thibodeauean players who would sprint into brick walls, especially if those walls were setting moving screens.
“Guys know (playing hard and physical) a way to stay on the floor. … It’s funny because when you have everybody doing it, you stand out more when you’re not doing it,” DiVincenzo said. “So I think kind of the overall team thing is you don’t wanna be on that film not playing defense.”
(Photo of Jalen Brunson and Mitchell Robinson: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
