Jalen Brunson was happy with Friday night’s result, but his own performance is still not up to his own admittedly high expectations.
“My mentality has to be better,” the Knicks’ point guard said after the team’s dominant 116-94 victory over the Bucks at the Garden. “I haven’t been satisfied individually with how I’ve been playing, but we won. That’s all I care about, and we just move on from there.”
Brunson’s overall floor game was strong.
He had nine assists, zero turnovers and a plus-28 rating in 32 steady minutes.
He scored 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting.
He fed Karl-Anthony Towns early as the newcomer spearheaded the much-needed victory with 32 points and four 3-pointers.
Brunson didn’t force the issue offensively, creating open shots for his teammates.
“I thought he played a great game. He didn’t have a great rhythm shooting the ball, but he did other things — nine assists, no turnovers, create easy baskets, play with a lead,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Some nights you might not shoot well, but there’s a lot of other things you can do to help your team win. I felt he did that.”
But it’s clear his offensive game is still not where he would like it to be.
He missed all five of his 3-point attempts and has made only six of his last 20 from distance.
In the last three games, he’s shooting only 41 percent (23 of 56) from the field.
Brunson tends to be a harsh critic of himself, especially after losses.
He has created immense expectations with how well he has performed in his first two years as a Knick.
So it’s hardly a surprise that he has hammered his own play during this underwhelming 4-4 start.
A lot has changed with the Knicks in the last year. Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Donte DiVinenzo and Immanuel Quickley — mainstays at this time last season — are gone.
Towns, Bridges and OG Anunoby are here.
This is all pretty new for this group.
“It’s going to take time to be cohesive, like how we were at the end of the year last year,” Brunson said. “It’s kind of a different team. So for us, we have to continue to gel every single day, and keep learning.”
Friday night felt like a small step forward for the Knicks, even if Brunson wasn’t thrilled with his performance.
As he said, it’s going to take time.