Who are the two players who are the most fierce on the offensive end of this year's playoffs? Brunson to the east and Jokic to the west, of course. Coincidentally, they both had second-round shows. In the battle of Tianwang Mountain, Brunson scored 44 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists, leading the team to a 30-point victory over the Pacers. Jokic scored 40 points, 7 rebounds and 13 assists, and the Nuggets beat the Timberwolves by 15 points.
In this year's playoffs, Brunson played an average of 41 minutes per game, scoring 33.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 0.9 steals and 3 turnovers, shooting 45.1% from the field, 30.1% from three, and 78.3% from the free throw line. Ranked 1st in the league in points per game, 6th in assists per game, 5th in interior scoring, and 3rd in secondary offense scoring.
In this year's playoffs, Brunson scored 40+ five times, becoming the first player to achieve it since James in 2018. In addition, Brunson scored at least 373 points in the first 11 games of the playoffs, the fourth since 1990, behind Jordan, James and Durant. Brunson had at least 40 points and five assists in five games in a single game, the fourth-most in NBA history.
Brunson was born on August 31, 1996 and is only 1.85 meters tall. In the 2018 NBA Draft, Brunson was selected by the Mavericks with the 33rd pick. That year's No. 1 picks were Ayton, Bagley, Doncic, Jaren Jackson Jr., fourth pick, and Trae Young with the fifth pick. If it were to be rearranged, Brunson would be in the top five, right?
Brunson's rookie season salary was just $1.23 million, compared to $1.8 million in the Mavericks' final year (2021-22). In the 2021-22 regular season, Brunson averaged 16.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 50.2%, 37.3% and 84% from three. In the summer of 2022, Brunson joined the Knicks for four years and $104 million.
With an annual salary of more than $20 million, congratulations to the Knicks for picking up the treasure. Next, let's talk about Jokic, who is the second center in the 21st century to score 40+ in at least five playoff games, the first being O'Neal. Contributing at least 70 points to his team with points and assists in a single game without turnovers, Jokic is the first player in playoff history to do so.
In this year's playoffs, Jokic played an average of 40 minutes per game, scoring 28.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, 9.5 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.7 blocks and 3.4 turnovers, shooting 56.3%, 30.8%, and 90% from three. Ranked 8th in the league in points per game, 2nd in rebounds per game, 1st in assists per game, 5th in steals per game, and 1st in double-doubles and triple-doubles.
Jokic was born on February 19, 1995, and was selected by the Nuggets with the 41st pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. That year's No. 1 picks were Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Embiid, Aaron Gordon with the 4th pick, and Exum with the 5th pick. Three-time regular season MVP, there is no doubt that Jokic is the strongest second-round pick in history.
Jokic's current contract is five years, $276 million, expiring in the summer of 2028, and a $61.45 million player option for the 2027-28 season. Jokic's contract is currently the second-highest in NBA history, behind Jaylen Brown's five-year, $304 million. This offseason and next offseason, fortunately there are other Mr. 300 million!
Final question: Do you think the Nuggets will be able to defend their title this season?