New-look Knicks have options when teams focus on Jalen Brunson

Some teams are going to force Jalen Brunson off the ball.

That’s exactly what happened in the home opener at Madison Square Garden against the Indiana Pacers on Friday — a resounding 25-point victory in response to a disappointing 24-point loss to the Boston Celtics to start the season.

The Pacers deployed a combination of defensive irritants in Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard to hound the point of attack. After Brunson’s rare blunder with four turnovers in Boston, he cleaned things up at home, giving the ball away just once.

“Pregame in Boston there were so many things going on. It was very uncharacteristic on my part, and for us as a team,” Brunson said. “Whatever it takes to win. Just reading the game and playing our best game.”

Instead of forcing the issue, Brunson trusted his teammates to make plays. It worked, and the Knicks believe it’s something they can replicate as teams throw creative defensive schemes or cross-match bigger defenders onto Brunson, who finished with 26 points, five rebounds, and five assists against the Pacers.

Josh Hart praised Brunson for his decision-making against Indiana’s defense.

“Obviously the two engines are JB and KAT [Karl-Anthony Towns], and Mikal is a guy who can score at a high level and make tough shots. OG can do the same,” Hart said. “I’m out there trying to make sure everyone gets the ball in the right spots and pick my own moments. That gives us confidence. Especially against teams like this, who use length and physicality on Jalen, we can find matchups like OG or Mikal in the post and execute from there.”

Brunson was one of four Knicks starters to score 20 or more in the home opener. Towns finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds; Mikal Bridges added 21 points and five assists, and Hart chipped in with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

OG Anunoby rounded things out with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field. The Knicks’ starters combined to shoot an impressive 53.6 percent from the field in their first win of the season.

“Just sharing the ball. The biggest thing, I think we all have the will to win,” Bridges said. “You want to score, but you also want to make that extra pass to help the team. It’s all about reading the game, taking what’s open, and reacting.”

Towns emphasized that the team’s balanced scoring was a direct result of their defense stepping up. The Knicks held the Pacers to just 3-of-30 shooting from beyond the arc and kept All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton scoreless on 0-of-8 shooting.

“I thought we did a good job of sharing the ball,” said Towns. “Also, with our defense stepping up to another gear tonight, I thought we got a lot more easy layup opportunities. Defense is gonna be something that will carry us into the season.”

Bridges echoed the sentiment, reinforcing the Knicks’ unselfishness and willingness to play as a unit.

“I don’t know. I think we just, we’re all talented. We all try to make the right read,” he said. “Sometimes it’ll be one guy might have the mismatch the whole game and might attack that. I think none of us really care about that. I think we’re just trying to win and play together on both ends.”

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Much ado about nothing.

It’s how the Knicks feel about the hoopla surrounding Bridges’ jump shot, even more so after his 8-of-12 shooting performance in Friday’s victory over the Pacers.

Bridges shot just 2-of-19 from three-point range through the preseason then shot 0-of-4 from downtown in the first half of a blowout loss in Boston to start the season.

He responded by shooting seven-of-eight from the field in the second half in Boston, then two-of-three from deep against the Pacers in the home opener.

“When you think about it logically, where we are today with social media, everyone has an opinion on everything, and yet the guy who’s doing the work every day, when you watch him work, you know how much he puts into it, and then his body of work,” Thibodeau said. “No one’s gonna shoot great for 82 games, and oftentimes in preseason, you’re trying to work through things, trying to get a rhythm, and trying to figure out a new system, new teammates, you don’t have your normal rhythm.

“Each day it gets better and better, but logically, if you look at it, this guy has shot almost 38 percent for his entire career. Me? I’d bet on that.”

Hart was adamant amid Bridges’ preseason struggles that his former Villanova Wildcat teammate would find his shooting stride.

“I told y’all to relax. He had the most scrutinized 7-for-13 game I might have ever seen. All the talk and rhetoric around it, we didn’t pay attention to it. We knew he was going to be good,” Hart said. “He’s a 38 percent from three in his career. We’re not worried about it. I know he’s not worried about it. Our job is to make sure we find him, get him comfortable, find him when he’s open. His job is to shoot it with confidence, and that’s what he’s doing and that’s what we need from him.”