Jalen Brunson Not Enough for Knicks?

Jalen Brunson has been elite for the New York Knicks, but is the team a championship contender?

Feb 21, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill (5) during the first half at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

New York Knicks All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson is a big reason why the team has been among the best in the NBA this season.

CBS Sports writer Brad Botkin ranked his top 25 players in the league this season and Brunson was listed at No. 8.

"Slightly overshadowed by Towns, the Knicks' shiniest new toy, Brunson is yet again playing at an All-NBA level at over 26 points and seven assists a night," Botkin writes.

"Brunson is shooting his normal 40% clip from 3 and he's having the most efficient scoring season, on a points per 100 shots basis, since coming to New York. The Knicks rely on Brunson to breach the paint where he has an old-school array of weapons to deploy. Elite footwork and a buttery fall-away make him devastating in the short mid-range area. Towns is getting more national attention, and deservedly so, but Brunson still makes the league's second-best offense go."

Brunson has the Knicks in a good spot, but it still isn't where New York wants to be. The team just got the doors blown off against the Cleveland Cavaliers, one of two teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference standings. They also haven't done very well against the Boston Celtics, who sit at No. 2 in the East.

Chances are, the Knicks will have to face one or both of them in the postseason this year, and they will be massive underdogs in each potential series.

The goal for this season was to win a championship, so if the Knicks aren't playing on that level, Brunson's masterpiece of a season in the prime of his career could be going to waste.

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