Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns are finding another gear together in the playoffs
Are the Knicks’ superstar duo finally finding their ceiling as a pairing?
Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns have guided the Knicks to a 2-0 series lead in the East semifinals vs. the Sixers, and the Knicks have won five straight games since they were down 2-1 in the first round vs. the Hawks.
After the close Game 2 win, Brunson has now played 50 playoff games for the Knicks. In those 50 games, he’s averaging 29.5 points per game and 6.6 assists per game. Only Michael Jordan (36.3), Elgin Baylor (33.5), Luka Dončić (30.9), Allen Iverson (30.1), and Jerry West (30.1) averaged more points per game through their first 50 playoff games with a franchise than Brunson.
The 2026 playoff run didn’t start off too smoothly for him, either. Through the first four games vs. the Hawks, Brunson averaged 25.5 points per game, but that was on poor efficiency — he shot 41.6% from the field with a 51.7% true shooting percentage (TS%). The Knicks had a 113.9 offensive rating (ORTG) with him on the floor through those four games.
Over his last four games, Brunson has risen to the occasion as he usually does in the playoffs. He’s averaging 29.3 points per game on 56.8% shooting, along with a 67.8% TS% and 139.8 ORTG. He’s taken way fewer shots (22.3 per game through four games, 18.5 per game over his last four games) during that span, as well.
DJ Zullo of Knicks Film School noted on Twitter before Game 2 vs. the Sixers that Brunson’s rim attempts have been up in the playoffs. He credited his off-ball movement and cutting to that development. Brunson averaged 2.9 rim attempts per game during the regular season... he’s up to 5.6 rim attempts per game during the postseason.
However, Brunson’s total shots per game in the paint have decreased in two games vs. the Sixers compared to the six-game series vs. the Hawks. He averaged 11.2 shots per game in the paint against the Hawks, compared to 8.5 shots per game in the paint against the Sixers. He’s been more efficient in the paint in the two games against the Sixers, sporting a 58.8% FG% there in this series.
Brunson has felt more confident operating in the mid-range against the Sixers’ defense in the semis than he did against the Hawks in the first round. A lot of his success in the first game can probably be attributed to Joel Embiid’s inability to move on defense.
As the ALL NBA Podcast tweeted out after Game 1, the Knicks destroyed Embiid in the series opener in the pick-and-roll game, targeting him on 27 on-ball picks and scoring 1.62 points per direct action.
In Game 2, Brunson still operated smoothly in the mid-range without Embiid playing. He made three of his five mid-range shot attempts (60%), which makes it back-to-back games against the Sixers with at least three mid-range shot makes for Brunson.
In the six games vs. the Hawks, even including his 39-point Game 5, he didn’t have a single game with at least three shot makes from the mid-range area.
Brunson has also been frying the Sixers with his pull-up shot-making this series, something that he went through extreme struggles with in the Knicks’ series against the Hawks.
He averaged 6.3 points per game on 8.5 pull-up shot attempts per game vs. the Hawks, shooting 31.4% on those, as well as 28.6% on 3-point pull-up shot attempts.
Against the Sixers, Brunson is averaging exactly 10 points per game on six pull-up shot attempts per game, shooting 75% from the field on them (50% on two 3-point pull-ups per game). So, he’s more efficient and successful on pull-ups in this round against Philadelphia, scoring more even on fewer such shots per game.
The Sixers just haven’t been able to turn Brunson’s water off through two games in this series, and Brunson has been getting to the basket with ease.
Brunson wasn’t necessarily bad driving to the hoop in the first round against the Hawks, averaging 12.3 points per game on 15.7 drives per game in that round. He shot 50.8% from the field and was fouled on 5.3% of his drives in that series.
In Game 1 vs. the Sixers, he actually drove less (13 drives) to the basket but he scored almost 10 more points on drives (21), as he’s shot a whopping 81.8% on drives and got fouled on 7.7% of his drives.
While Brunson has been the Knicks’ Batman in the playoffs, Towns has been his Robin — but he’s not just a regular sidekick.
KAT is averaging 18.6 points per game (PPG), 10.5 rebounds per game (RPG), and a staggering 6.1 assists per game (APG) on 59.7% shooting through eight playoff games this year. He’s shooting 50% from three and 90% from the free throw line, totaling to a 75.3% TS%. The caveat? He’s only averaging 9.6 shots per game, down from 13.8 in the regular season.
Towns is currently just the fourth player EVER in NBA history to average at least 18 PPG, 10-plus RPG, and 6-plus APG on 63% or higher TS% in a single playoff run among players with at least eight games played in that single run. His 75.3% TS% is the highest among those four players, as he joins Nikola Jokić (2023), LeBron James (2020), and Charles Barkley (1991) as the only players to do so.
Most importantly, the last two guys to achieve that (Jokić and LeBron) went on to each win a title during that single playoff run.
Despite KAT seeing his shot attempts per game plummet, he’s making the most of them while also creating exceptional looks for his teammates.
In Game 2 vs. the Sixers, five of his seven assists were to his teammates while they were either actively cutting or driving to the hoop. One of his assists was a 3-pointer from Deuce McBride where he pitched it and set a screen. His last of his seven assists was a kick-out on an offensive rebound to Mikal Bridges after an OG Anunoby missed dunk.
KAT has seen an increase in front-court touches in the four games prior to Game 2 vs. the Sixers in the playoffs, as well as compared to the regular season. His overall touches are still around the same rate.
KAT has made the most of his shot attempts, and he’s taken way more efficient shots in the playoffs compared to the regular season.
According to PivotFade, 54.5% of his shot attempts in the playoffs have been at the rim (47.7% in the regular season). He hasn’t taken a single shot in the mid-range area (6.9% of shots in regular season). He’s seen a slight uptick in his shot attempts being from beyond the arc (31.2%) in the playoffs.
Something that doesn’t get talked about enough is that KAT has absolutely turned himself into a two-way superstar in the playoffs.
Entering Game 2 vs. the Sixers, opponents were only shooting just 40.2% from the field when guarded by KAT... that’s 6.4% lower than expected. Including Game 2 vs. the Sixers, the Knicks have a 104.2 defensive rating (DRTG) with KAT on the floor in the playoffs, and that’s 10.6 points per 100 possessions lower than the regular season (114.8).
Towns has felt comfortable guarding offensive players in space in the 2026 playoffs. Entering Wednesday, among players who had defended at least 35 shots of 15-plus feet this postseason, he had the fifth-lowest FG% against (29.2%) on such shots. He had allowed a 41.4% FG% on such shots during the regular season.
While KAT saw his minutes decrease in Game 2 vs. the Sixers due to foul trouble, he’s still putting up a historic postseason. As of right now, he would join Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players to record 10-plus rebounds per game, at least one steal and one block per game, and post a 65% or higher TS% in a single playoff run of at least eight games played.
The Knicks have been fortunate that Brunson and Towns have been two of the most productive players so far in the 2026 playoffs. They’re outscoring teams by 14.1 points per 100 possessions when those two share the floor.
However, their next test will be how they can potentially adjust to life without Anunoby once again. He left Game 2 with a hamstring strain — though Stefan Bondy of The New York Post reports the strain is “very, very minor.”
The Knicks have played 399 offensive possessions with both Brunson and KAT on the floor together in the 2026 playoffs — 60 of those 399 offensive possessions (15%) have come without OG on the floor.
In those 60 offensive possessions of the Knicks’ superstar duo without OG, the Knicks had a -3.2 NETRTG. However, across 786 offensive possessions of that pairing without OG in the regular season, they won those minutes with a +9.5 NETRTG.
If the Knicks decide to go with a starting lineup of Deuce in place of Anunoby, that five-man lineup outscored opponents with a +18.5 NETRTG in the regular season in 236 possessions, but that group has only shared the floor for a brief time period (11 total possessions) across three different games in the playoffs.
No matter what happens with OG, though, it’s clear that Brunson and Towns have turned into an extremely symbiotic pair during this postseason run so far.
