Ausar Thompson, the man charged with Detroit’s most difficult defensive assignment of guarding Jalen Brunson, was far from discouraged after watching the film of Game 1.
Asked to identify the most difficult challenge of stopping the Knicks captain, Thompson, the 22-year-old defensive specialist, offered a succinct, “Nothing.”
Still, Thompson very clearly had one problem as Brunson dropped 34 points in New York’s win Saturday night. He was whistled for five fouls in just 23 minutes, including four committed against Brunson.
After an impressive and aggressive start Saturday, Thompson was the first sub after just 2 minutes, 39 seconds because of two quick personals. Both those fouls occurred against Brunson, including a Thompson charge.