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4 hours ago
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One good way to win basketball games is to make sure your best players touch the ball as much as possible.
The New York Knicks are currently having a problem doing that, and the root cause is a wild Jalen Brunson stat involving Karl-Anthony Towns that makes almost no sense.
Over the first two games of the series against the Pistons, Brunson has passed the ball to Towns a total of 12 times, per NBA tracking data.
That's insane. It's illogical. What is going on in New York?
During the regular season, Brunson averaged about 10 passes to Towns per game. It's not the direct flow of the Knicks' offense, but this playoff number is wildly low.
At a time when stars get even more run, Towns didn't even get a shot in the fourth quarter of Monday's loss to the Pistons.
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If you're wondering, Brunson passes the ball to his former Villanova teammates a heck of a lot more.
In the series, Brunson has thrown 38 passes to Mikal Bridges and 32 to Josh Hart.
It might be time for the Knicks to spam the Brunson-KAT pick-and-roll to get this offense back in sync. Or let Towns pop beyond the 3-point line and show off that greatest-shooting-big-man-ever outside shot.
Brunson not passing to Towns hardly at all just doesn't make sense. It's clearly not working.
After Monday's game, Brunson took some ownership: "Definitely, it's on my shoulders. I'm not gonna point fingers and say some people need to do that and this. It's on me to make sure I set the table."
But until it shows up on the court, with Brunson looking to feed Towns to help him be successful, those will only be words.
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