This is, apparently, what the Mavericks look like when they have a real point guard (“real” implying shortness, which Jalen Brunson definitely has) instead of their normal setup of Luka Doncic doing everything. And it looks good! The Bucks weren’t expecting this to be such a tough game, and it cost them, as the Mavericks controlled things basically the whole way.
The scouting report on Brunson probably wasn’t as complete as it should have been, because he put up a really point-guardy double-double without too much issue. 13 points, that’s an acceptable amount of points for a point guard who is trying to get others involved instead of attempting to pad his stats with horrible contested stepback threes from 30 feet away. And 11 assists, again an acceptable amount of assists for a point guard who is trying to make the offense as good as it can be instead of insisting that players shoot shots as soon as he passes it to them.
I like the D’Angelo Russell comparisons for Brunson, mainly because of the way he shoots his jumper and the way he likes to pull-up in the midrange, but now I have to adjust my comparisons. John Stockton, anyone?