The Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks played Friday night, and once again, Jalen Brunson went off in a win for his team. It's been a recurring theme over the years. Whenever the two teams face off, Brunson kicks it into a higher gear and dominates the game through and through. No matter what coverage or scheme the Bucks throw at him, Brunson finds a way.
Brunson has been Bucks' bogeyman for years
Brunson scoring in bunches is no surprise. He's among the craftiest scorers in the entire league due to his ability to attack down low, sink long-range jumpers, and get to the foul line. These are all things he does masterfully when he's playing the Bucks.
Following his 27 points on 64.4 percent shooting Friday night, Brunson is now averaging 33.3 points while knocking in 58.7 percent of his shots against Milwaukee this season. In 2024-25, he averaged 29.5 points while hitting 55 percent of his looks. In 2023-24, he averaged an astounding 37.2 points on 52.9 percent shooting in five games against Milwaukee.
For his NBA career, Brunson is averaging 25.7 points per matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks, the most he has averaged against any team. They've had no answer to him for years. A Bucks player must have denied Brunson an autograph or wronged him in some other way when he was a kid because whenever he plays them, he takes it personally.
Brunson has torched Bucks defenders on the regular
How have the Bucks tried to combat Brunson's scoring barrages? This season, they've thrown several different players his way. Against Ryan Rollins, arguably Milwaukee's best guard defender and a rising two-way star, Brunson has shot 5-of-7 (71.4 percent). Against the taller and bulkier Kyle Kuzma, Brunson has shot 3-of-4 (75 percent). No matter who gets the assignment, they've their hands full.
The last actual answer the Milwaukee Bucks had for Brunson was when they employed Jrue Holiday. Across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, Holiday, known as one of the best guard defenders in the entire NBA, held Brunson to just 3-of-14 shooting (21.4 percent). Holiday's combination of physicality and saviness gave Brunson issues again and again.
Well, Jrue Holiday isn't walking through that door anytime soon, so the Milwaukee Bucks will have to look elsewhere if they want to correct this issue.
Unless the Milwaukee Bucks run into them in the NBA Playoffs, a possibility after a strong February, the team will not face Brunson for the rest of the year. Yet, he's not going away anytime soon.
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