Unlock the Pacers’ Path to the Eastern Conference Finals: The Key Is Jalen Brunson!

NEW YORK — As Jalen Brunson’s reputation in the NBA skyrockets, Rick Carlisle, the coach of the Indiana Pacers, often reflects on whether he anticipated Brunson’s rise. Having coached him during his initial three years with the Dallas Mavericks, Carlisle watched Brunson evolve from a promising second-round draft pick to a leading contender for the Sixth Man Award by his third season. Now, in his recent seasons with the New York Knicks, Brunson has consistently been in the conversation for MVP.

“It doesn’t shock me,” Carlisle remarked. “Given his sheer determination, his winning mentality, and how he’s always welcomed criticism, he thrives on proving his skeptics wrong.”

In Carlisle’s current role, a major part of his strategy hinges on containing Brunson, or at least minimizing his impact. Amidst the chaos of Indiana’s 138-135 overtime victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, Brunson erupted, scoring a playoff career-high 43 points. He shot an impressive 60% from the field and was nearly perfect from the free-throw line, making 12 of 14 attempts. Despite a few rare errors towards the end, Brunson’s performance was largely dominant.

“Trying to lock him down is tough because he’s adept at finding angles,” Carlisle explained. “He gets to his spots and consistently makes shots that would be considered poor choices for most players. But for him, they’re just routine scores.”

Pascal Siakam added, “He’s a challenging matchup, and he’s been excelling for a long time. Every series, he just somehow manages to score.”

The Pacers’ defensive strategy against Brunson begins with trying to exhaust him. In Game 1, Aaron Nesmith, a robust 6′ 6″ wing, guarded Brunson full court. Throughout the game, seven different Pacers took turns defending him, according to NBA.com. Yet, none could significantly hinder his performance.

“We rotated four or five players on him, and he still managed to score effortlessly,” said T.J. McConnell, one of the Pacers assigned to Brunson. “We need to make some tactical changes.”

Brunson is well-prepared for whatever Indiana throws at him. He averaged nearly 30 points per game in last season’s conference semifinals against the Pacers, shooting 46.1% from the field. In this season’s three regular-season games, he averaged 22.3 points, hitting half of his three-point attempts.

McConnell noted that Indiana’s plan was to make it “as tough as possible” for Brunson—a strategy extensively discussed in their Thursday team meeting—while admitting the challenges of executing it.

“He seems to have few weaknesses,” McConnell observed. “With his shooting skills, driving ability, and proficiency in scoring from all three levels, it’s difficult for any of us to guard him. We just have to try to slow him down. He’s a complete player and a three-level scorer.”

But Brunson isn’t the only focus for Indiana. The Pacers also lost the rebounding contest in Game 1. Mitchell Robinson was particularly effective on the offensive boards. Defensively, Carlisle highlighted the 69 points Indiana allowed in the first half. They recognize the necessity to improve their defense on Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 35 points, and to push for a quicker game pace. Despite the excitement of the Game 1 finish, the Pacers know they must move past it.

“There are many areas we need to improve on: defense, transition, pick-and-roll, isolation,” Carlisle stated. “And of course, we discussed the importance of blocking out before the series. We have to do better in these areas.”

Ultimately, in a tightly contested game, the outcome may hinge on stopping Brunson. Foul trouble restricted him to just 6 ½ minutes in the fourth quarter of Game 1. He scored 10 points but also committed a crucial turnover with 26 seconds remaining, ending the quarter with a -7. However, Brunson is last year’s Clutch Player of the Year for a reason. The Knicks can’t rely on him making many errors again.

“You have to have a full set of tools [against Brunson],” Carlisle said. “And not all tools will be effective.”