Of their second-round playoff sequence in opposition to Jalen Brunson’s New York Knicks, the Indiana Pacers must “lock into all the things defensively to cease him,” ahead Obi Toppin mentioned Saturday in Indiana. A reporter requested if it will be just like the problem that Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard introduced within the first spherical. 

“Nah,” mentioned Toppin, who was traded from the Knicks to the Pacers final July. “JB bought the ball in his fingers greater than Lillard, and he performs 48 minutes, so we’re ready for that.”

Toppin was solely barely exaggerating. Brunson performed a median of 43.8 minutes within the first spherical, trailing solely teammate Josh Hart (46.1) and opponent Tyrese Maxey (44.6). In response to NBA.com’s monitoring knowledge, he had the ball in his fingers for 11.1 minutes per sport, which is: 

• Virtually twice as a lot as Lillard (5.7) did within the first spherical
• No. 1 within the league by a superb margin (Luka Doncic, Brunson’s former teammate, had possession of the ball for 9.3 minutes per sport, and solely three different gamers — Maxey, Anthony Edwards and James Harden — averaged greater than seven minutes)
• Primarily half of New York’s complete time of possession, together with the minutes by which he was on the bench.

You possible keep in mind Brunson making a nasty, left-to-right floater over Joel Embiid throughout Recreation 4 in opposition to the Philadelphia 76ers. It was a outstanding shot due to the diploma of problem and the truth that Brunson had simply returned to the courtroom after banging knees with Kyle Lowry on the finish of the earlier quarter. However do you do not forget that he dribbled away your complete 24-second shot clock earlier than he put it up?

In that sport, Brunson scored 47 factors, practically half of the Knicks’ complete, and had a utilization fee of 39%. Within the sequence he had a utilization fee of 35.6% general and 38.6% within the fourth quarter (a quantity that understates his late-game ball dominance, because it does not embody additional time of Recreation 5, by which he had an 83.3% utilization fee — sure, critically, 83.3 — and accounted for eight of his crew’s 10 shot makes an attempt). For context, Allen Iverson had a utilization fee of 34.9% in his 2001 MVP season (and 35.8% in that yr’s playoffs).

To extra precisely measure how a lot a participant does on offense, Seth Partnow, who’s StatsBomb’s director of North American sports activities and previously the Milwaukee Bucks’ director of basketball analysis, got here up with “complete utilization,” which takes under consideration scoring, playmaking (together with potential assists and free throw assists) and turnovers. Brunson had a gargantuan 52% complete utilization fee within the first spherical, up from 47.2% within the common season, per Partnow.

“He has the ball in his fingers for 20 seconds out of the 24[-second] shot clock,” Sixers wing Kelly Oubre Jr., who spent a lot of the sequence defending Brunson, mentioned the day earlier than that 47-point eruption. “He passes the ball, will get it proper again. He places up most likely probably the most photographs on his crew, as he ought to. However on the finish of the day he is getting used rather a lot. He is getting used to to go play 48 minutes and have 40 factors. He has to.”

Oubre mentioned it was his job to “keep in entrance of him, keep disciplined, not go for his fakes.” Now that job will fall to a number of Pacers. Andrew Nembhard will likely be considered one of them, in line with coach Rick Carlisle, who spent three seasons with Brunson in Dallas and instructed Dan Patrick that he is “very comfortable for him, very pleased with him and really a lot not wanting ahead to teaching in opposition to him.” Aaron Nesmith will possible be one other.

Indiana doesn’t have Philadelphia’s measurement and size on the wing, but it surely has Myles Turner patrolling the paint and it’s nicely conscious of how Brunson-dependent the Knicks’ offense has grow to be.

“They’ve their most important man that goes on the market and just about does all the things for ’em,” Turner instructed reporters. As Monday’s sequence opener approaches, possibly the massive query should not be what the Pacers can do to cease him, however whether or not or not he can hold taking part in his approach with out sporting down. 

Within the first spherical, Brunson was second to solely Hart in each per-game and complete distance traveled, per NBA.com’s monitoring knowledge. If Brunson himself is anxious about his workload, although, he’s not displaying it. “All out, no time to tempo your self anymore,” he mentioned after logging 51 minutes in Recreation 5. By way of his share of the offense, the Sixers sequence was nothing new — within the last month of the common season, Brunson averaged 35.1 factors and 9.7 minutes of ball possession per sport with a 36.7% utilization fee, all of which ranked No. 1 within the league.

The Knicks absolutely will not complain if Brunson continues to attain 40-plus factors on good effectivity, as he has now accomplished in three consecutive video games. It didn’t appear to be an accident, although, that ahead OG Anunoby bought extra aggressive as a scorer because the Philadelphia sequence went on. Ever since Julius Randle’s shoulder harm in January, New York has needed to scrounge factors nonetheless it will probably. The Knicks’ easiest, most dependable supply of offense has been letting Brunson cook dinner, however additionally they wish to run wing Donte DiVincenzo off screens and use middle Isaiah Hartenstein as a facilitator/handoff hub. Ideally, they’re going to discover extra success with that stuff within the second spherical than they did within the first, if solely as a result of it will presumably decrease the chance that Brunson burns out.

One factor to look at in Recreation 1: How a lot of an effort the Pacers make to get the ball out of Brunson’s fingers. These selections will be difficult, and Brunson has advanced into the kind of participant for whom there is not a “good” protection, solely ones which can be much less dangerous than others given the personnel concerned. If Indiana elects to blitz Brunson’s pick-and-rolls more often than not, he most likely will not drop 40, however his teammates would possibly feast on 4-on-3 alternatives and relieve him of the stress to make performs in isolation. Because of this, when dealing with a celebrity participant who’s doing absolutely the most, some coaches favor to not put two on the ball or assist aggressively off of his teammates.

In idea, this may tire out mentioned celebrity over the course of a sport or a sequence and forestall anyone else from discovering a rhythm. That plan sounds much more wise earlier than the sequence begins, although, than when the man on the high of the scouting report is dicing your protection up.