This time again, the New York Knicks stand seven games away from reaching the NBA Finals. They have the Cleveland Cavaliers on the other end in the Eastern Conference Finals. Both teams will face each other on Tuesday, and all eyes are on their biggest stars. However, for the Knicks’ archnemesis, Reggie Miller, it’s Jalen Brunson you have to watch out for. And right before the big night, the Indiana Pacers legend sent words of praise for the 29-year-old point guard.

Dan Patrick was essentially marveling at how Brunson dominates without elite size or blazing speed. He pointed out that his handle, quickness, and shot-making are solid but not overwhelmingly flashy. Yet somehow, the Knicks star still controls games so effortlessly that even experienced basketball minds struggle to explain his success fully.

“I’m going to tell you how he does it. He is the master. I’ll put it to you like this. He is the Kobe Bryant of point guards. And why I say that, his fundamentals and footwork are superb. Superb,” Miller said on The Dan Patrick Show. “He understands angles, and when he uses his footwork, when he does get into the paint, he keeps the defense off balance. He is great in the mid-range; he can kill you from three-point, and he’s a pretty honorable passer as well.”

Reggie Miller’s “Kobe Bryant of point guards” tag for Jalen Brunson suddenly makes a lot more sense once you watch the chaos he creates nightly. Brunson carries a superstar-sized scoring burden, thrives on brutally tough shot attempts, and somehow gets sharper when defenses tighten. Over the last 3 seasons, he has mastered pressure possessions. He controls tight games. He buries brutal shots. And he keeps dragging winning basketball with the same cold-blooded rhythm that made Kobe Bryant a nightmare for opponents. Let the numbers talk.

The Knicks star carries offense like a scoring wing trapped inside a lead guard’s body. Across 2023-24 to 2025-26, Brunson piled up 5,345 total points, the most among all point guards. Meanwhile, his scoring barely dipped under chaos. He averaged 24.0 PPG on 49.1% shooting and 41.6% from deep, then exploded to 28.7 PPG on 47.9% FG and 40.1% from three before hovering around 26.0 PPG with usage rates touching 31-32% and true shooting above 58%. That workload screams superstar alpha.

Then comes the part that probably reminds Reggie of Kobe Bryant the most. Pressure. Brunson turns late-game possessions into torture chambers for defenses. Over a two-year playoff stretch, he averaged roughly 31.1 PPG and 7.2 APG while stacking 40 and 50-point explosions. Moreover, he poured in 102 fourth-quarter playoff points across one 10-game span, edging Kobe’s iconic early-run totals. Add the 2024-25 Clutch Player of the Year trophy and 5.6 clutch points per game on 51% shooting, and the comparison starts sounding less dramatic and more logical.

The style seals it. Brunson scores everywhere. Floaters. Pull-up threes. Midrange daggers. Bruising drives into traffic. His free-throw rate sat around 36-37%, while his TS% floated over 60%. Yet he still controlled the floor like a true point guard, averaging 6.2, 6.7, and 7.3 assists with remarkably low turnovers. Reggie probably sees a player who mixes Kobe’s ruthless shot-making mentality with a floor general’s brain. That combination feels terrifyingly rare, making Brunson sit alongside Bryant in the conversation.

While the conversation surely revolves around Jalen Brunson and his impact, Reggie Miller also wants everyone to remember that the Cleveland Cavaliers won’t go easy on the Knicks. Precisely, Donovan Mitchell won’t show any mercy.

Jalen Brunson & Co. have a massive task of overpowering the Cavs

“Donovan Mitchell has size. He’s bigger than Jalen Brunson. So that’s why he can finish amongst the bigs when he gets into the paint. He also is a great three-point shooter. He’s been in the three-point competition the last four or five years,” Miller reminded everyone. “So, he’s very capable of getting hot from downtown. This is why this is going to be a fun matchup. Again, I still have the Knicks, but they better not take the Cavs for granted. That’s all I’m going to say. You cannot take this team for granted.”

Ever since the chaotic summer of 2022, Jalen Brunson and Donovan Mitchell have felt tied together like parallel basketball destinies. New York landed Brunson on a four-year deal, while Cleveland stole Mitchell after the Knicks failed to finish the trade. Fast forward four seasons, and both stars completely transformed their franchises. Brunson averaged 26.3 PPG during that stretch and powered New York to 6 playoff series wins after the franchise managed only 1 between 2001-2022.

Meanwhile, Mitchell dropped 26.7 PPG and dragged Cleveland into relevance again, delivering 4 postseason series victories without the shadow of LeBron James hanging over every moment. Now the rivalry feels personal. Brunson’s Knicks stormed into the Eastern Conference finals by crushing teams with a ridiculous 19.4-point playoff scoring margin, including seven straight wins by 26.4 points per game. Mitchell’s Cavaliers took the messier route, clawing back from a 2-0 hole against Detroit before detonating the Pistons 125-94 in Game 7.

Most importantly, Jalen Brunson operates like a surgical closer. Donovan Mitchell attacks like controlled chaos. Yet both carry the same pressure: deliver a Finals trip capable of rewriting franchise history forever. And while Reggie Miller has put Brunson on the same table as Kobe Bryant, he doesn’t want the crowd to forget about Spida. ECF is going to be one incredible show!