Jalen Brunson said the New York Knicks are handling the unusual pause before the Eastern Conference Finals by staying sharp, staying honest and refusing to drift into comfort. With the Knicks already through to the next round after their 4-0 series win over Philadelphia, they are waiting to learn whether they will face the Cleveland Cavaliers or Detroit Pistons.
“He’s been great,” Brunson said about head coach Mike Brown at practice on Wednesday. “He’s been honest, accountable and he’s been prepping us and making sure we’re learning after wins and obviously after losses as well and constantly adjusting just to make sure we’re on the same page.”
Brunson said the new coaching approach has been easy for the group to absorb because the communication has stayed open. “He’s always wanted to have open dialogue since day one,” he said. “When we give our opinions and whether they’re good or bad opinions, they are talked about and then they’re decided on later, but I’m pretty comfortable with it. I think a lot of us are very comfortable with it.”
The Knicks now enter a long wait between series, but Brunson said rest alone is not the point. “That’s different is obviously our rest right now,” he said. “But we got some, we got to be prepared. We still have to do a lot of things to make sure we’re ready to go.”
New York finished the regular season with Brunson leading the team at 26.0 points and 6.8 assists per game, and he has kept that production rolling in the playoffs at 27.4 points and 6.1 assists per game. Even so, he said the Knicks are focused less on numbers and more on staying ready for whichever opponent emerges.
“We have our plan,” Brunson said. “Obviously utilize rest, but then when we’re in the gym, we’re doing everything that they do. Stay having the edge that we need to have, focusing on the things that we need to focus on and continue to prepare.”
Brunson also said the team is already studying the possible differences between Cleveland and Detroit, but not losing sight of its own identity. “Obviously, with the preparation for one of these two teams, we’ve talked about the differences between the two and all that,” he said, “but just focusing on what makes us the best team we can be as well.”
For Brunson, the key is the mindset that carried New York this far. “The most important is our mentality,” he said. “Just making sure that with the right mentality and we’re not just comfortable.”
He also said the Knicks have spent time working on details that may never show up in a game, just in case the next round demands them. “We worked on a lot of things that we haven’t really done in any game yet,” Brunson said. “At this late in the season, you don’t really practice that full speed or as much alive… But I think that the mental approach and the concentration is the most important.”
