Payne had 3 fouls in 4 minutes. They def needed him to run the point because Brunson is not doing anything other than looking to get fouled or get an iso 3. They actually played so much better when he was out because the ball was constantly moving and it was KAT getting into the paint and dishing (more size to get the ball out). Not to mention Bridges started off hot and then sat and cooled off since he wasn’t getting the ball. They should’ve kept running the offense through him getting midrange shots and P&P with KAT since he was open a lot.
Obviously they will go as Brunson will go, but he’s been a ball hog since Randle got hurt last year and it’s been killing them since then. His clutch numbers only look good because he takes all the shots down the stretch, but there were so many games when they were up double digits going into the 4th and they’d blow the lead because the offense turned into Brunson just holding the ball for 20 seconds and taking a bad shot.
It’s on Thibs and Brunson to make him start moving the ball around. If he refuses to, then they’ll be done in 5.