Jalen Brunson Wants 'Outside Noise' Removed From Knicks-Mavericks
December athletic meetings between New York City and Dallas-branded franchises often bring about hard feelings and grappling on their league's playoff bracket.
Yet, the inexplicable geographic rivalry between the Giants and Cowboys is done for the season barring a postseason meeting next month. In its place stands a New York Knicks-Dallas Mavericks matchup that writes its latest chapter on Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden (12:30 p.m. ET, MSG).
You're more than forgiven for not buying into Knicks-Mavericks as a rivalry. Few, if any, have a favorite Knicks-Mavs memory and when the NBA season is shortened, their interconference matchups are often the first on the chopping block. But as long as Jalen Brunson lingers in the Association, their meetings will carry a sense of emotional weight.
Unless, of course, the Knicks' newly-minted primary point guard himself has anything to say about it.
“What’s important for me is I don’t let any outside noise affect me, especially when the ball is in the air,” Brunson said of facing his original NBA employers for the first time since inking a $104 million deal in New York over the summer. “Obviously, you see a lot, you’re going to read a lot. In this social media era, everything is out there. It’s going to come up."
"But I just do my best to focus, surround myself with people who aren’t going to deviate me off my path or how I focus pregame or things like that. It’s the same focus.”
Saturday will be the first culmination of the quick summer battle the Knicks and Mavericks staged for Brunson's services. Brunson drew national attention for rising to the occasion during the Mavericks' surprising run to the Western Conference Finals when franchise face Luka Dončić missed the opening stages. Hungry for a point guard after the Kemba Walker debacle, Knicks management did their utmost to lure Brunson over, even going as far as to bend the NBA's already flimsy tampering rules to do so.
A de facto Brunson Bowl would perhaps serve as a welcome distraction from the mediocrity that has defined the Knicks and Mavericks' early endeavors.
Brunson living up to his nine-figure deal over his first 22 games in blue and orange has been the one consistent silver lining for the Knicks (10-12), who have dropped four in a row at MSG. Dallas has injured a more impactful performance from Dončić but has struggled to fill the point guard/floor general/second option void that Brunson left behind. It's gotten so desperate for Dallas that they've brought in Walker to help (though the 37-game Knick won't make his Dallas debut on Saturday).
Dallas' second-round from 2018 is neither reveling in nor regretting the Mavericks' fate without him. Whether that's a case of treating Saturday's game like NBA business as usual or a silent acknowledgment of the Knicks' own issues could be up for debate but Brunson made it clear that a visit from defending conference finalists means only an opportunity for the Knicks to get back on track.
“They know me, I know them,” Brunson declared. “It’s going to be a battle of just who wants it more.”
Granted his desired contract and a chance to serve as the offensive headliner, Brunson has embraced the heightened New York spotlight. He's the current New York leader in scoring (21.3), assist (6.5), and stealing (1.1) averages and has built himself a solid case for his first All-Star bid.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau is more than confident in Brunson's ability to remove any semblance of emotion in facing the team that launched his NBA career. Such thoughts are perhaps the last things Brunson needs: his early metropolitan endeavors have turned him into a bit of a perfectionist, casting aside a recent streak of 30-point games after he failed to sink late clutch shots that could've ended the Knicks' MSG futility.
"That’s sort of the nature of our league. It’s not uncommon to change teams, so I think players adapt very well," Thibodeau said. "There’s a lot of friendships involved and agents and that sort of thing. But those guys were a big part of his life, and I think the best part about Jalen is he’s straightforward, focused, locked into exactly what we have to do.”
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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