"I'm hoping this is a wake-up call for Brunson" - Charles Barkley thinks the Knicks play better when Jalen Brunson gets off the ball

Yahoo

6 days ago

The New York Knicks' bench gave them a huge boost as they defeated the Indiana Pacers 106-100 in crucial Game 3 of the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals.
Known for being a starter-heavy team, the Knicks had nine players playing at least 11 minutes, all scoring at least 2 points, on Sunday night. They rallied from an early 20-point deficit to win the game and cut the Pacers' series lead down to 1-2.
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With contributions from a lot of players, New York survived a 6-18 shooting night from Jalen Brunson, who finished with a series-low 23 points. But while everyone was praising the Knicks' bench for stepping up, Hall of Famer Charles Barkley looked at things differently.
According to "Sir Charles," everyone on the Knicks played well because Brunson did not monopolize the ball as he was forced to sit out a significant number of minutes due to foul trouble.
"I'm hoping this is a wake-up call for Brunson. Like, 'Yo man, you going to have to get off the ball.' They've had their best two spurts in the series, Game 1 and today, where everybody's getting involved. He has to learn from that and get off the ball a little bit more," said Barkley.
Knicks have made big runs with JB on the bench
Brunson averaged 38.5 minutes per game in Games 1 and 2 but played only 31 in Game 3 due to foul trouble. As Kenny Smith noted during the post-game show, the Knicks were a +6 during the game with the Villanova product on the bench. And as we saw during the game, the Knicks made their runs with their star on the bench.
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After Brunson committed his third foul with 1:36 left in the second quarter and the Knicks were down 40-58, they cut the lead to 45-58 at the half. Then, after JB committed his fifth foul at the 7:03 mark of the fourth quarter and the Knicks were up by only one point at 89-88, his teammates held the fort. The game was tied at 98-98 when he re-entered the game with 1:37 left to play.
Also, in Game 1, Brunson left at 10:05 in the fourth quarter due to foul trouble. At that point, the Knicks were up 94-92. When JB returned with exactly five minutes left to play, his team was comfortably ahead at 111-98. Unfortunately, they blew that lead and lost, but as Barkley noted, the Knicks went on a run with the 6'2" guard on the bench.
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Teague blamed Brunson for the losses
Barkley isn't the first talking head to call out Brunson's ball dominance in the ECF. After the Knicks lost Game 2, former Atlanta Hawks All-Star guard Jeff Teague said that the Knicks can't get into an offensive rhythm because Brunson is monopolizing ball.
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"Jalen Brunson holds the ball for… The shot clock is 24 seconds; he's holding that bit** for 17," said Teague. "Trying to get a pick and roll, bring another dude, bring another dude, I'm going one-on-one, I'm going one-on-one. If he don't make it, it's like fu*k. It's the way he hold the ball; they don't get no rhythm. That's why when he comes out of the game, all of a sudden, the pace picks up, the tempo picks up. All of a sudden, you see people start hooping a little bit."
Make no mistake, the Knicks won't be where they are right now if not for Brunson, who is having another MVP-type season. While he has always delivered the big baskets for the NY squad, we've seen the Knicks play better as a team when he is off the floor.
This isn't saying that the Knicks are better off without him because they are not. But perhaps the ball should move more on offense for the Knicks since they won Game 3 with contributions from many players.
Related: "I never really cared" - Josh Hart admits he had a hand in the decision to come off the bench in Game 3 vs. Pacers