Knicks head coach Mike Brown decided to keep Mikal Bridges in the starting lineup after he struggled in the first three games of the first-round matchup vs. Atlanta. The veteran wing rewarded Brown’s faith in him by playing well at the end of that series and throughout the second-round sweep of Philadelphia, writes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post.
“It’s always great when your coach has got trust in you,” Bridges said after practice on Saturday. “Yeah, that’s great. And teammates staying with it, keeping me confident, as well. I think we all know the end goal is just trying to win games and do whatever it takes to win. Even in my mistakes, just try to do whatever it takes and know that I just gotta bounce back and learn from them.”
Bridges, who went scoreless with four turnovers in 21 minutes in the Game 3 loss vs. the Hawks, has averaged 15.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals on .667/.444/1.000 shooting over the last seven games, all victories. He played a critical role in slowing down Sixers star Tyrese Maxey, Schwartz notes.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Brown hasn’t used the double-big lineup of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson very much during the playoffs, but the results have been spectacular when they’ve been on the court together, notes Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News (subscription required). In their 20 shared minutes, the Knicks are outscoring opponents by an average of 27.9 points per 100 possessions. “I came to a little bit of a revelation with those guys,” Brown said. “We feel it’s a little easier to play with them — not just defensively, but offensively, too.”
- The Knicks have won seven straight games since Brown gave Towns a greater role in running the offense, and Towns’ college coach, John Calipari, has been delighted by the results, per Mike Lupica of The New York Daily News (subscription required).“What everybody is seeing is that playing through him the way they are doesn’t take away from anybody else’s game,” Calipari said. “On the contrary, it adds to everybody else’s game. And is exactly right for this team. The style of game he’s been playing, especially since they got behind the Hawks, I call that (Nikola) Jokic style, and that’s without him getting a ton of shots.”
- The Knicks closed out their second-round series last Sunday and will have a nine-day break by the time the conference finals begin Tuesday night. Brown isn’t sure whether that will be an advantage for his team or not, relays Zach Braziller of The New York Post. “I’ve been in both situations, playing while a team’s waiting and I’ve been waiting while a team’s playing,” Brown said. “You can say a lot theoretically. You can say they’re going to be tired, but you can also say they have a competitive edge because they’ve been going at it for seven games and we’ve been off. You keep trying to do different things during the course of the downtime to keep them sharp, keep them focused and try to keep their competitive edge up as much as you can.”
Could just be Bridges has always been kind of inconsistent? “Reward” kind of a strong word here
Knicks in 5 seems likely.
9 days off is a benefit for the Knicks in this scenario, it gave OG the time to rest/recover from the hamstring injury.
Knicks need to win game one. Gotta put the cavs away early. Should be a good series. I personally believe if James harden shows up he’s not going to be as easy as people think. Remember the Knicks do have some holes even though they’ve been playing well. But you can jump on the Cavs early. It’s going to be interesting to see who Bronson guards. And how Mitchell plays as well too. If he has one of those crazy good series then it could be a long series. I still have the Knicks winning. However, I do think Mitchell’s no longer and all NBA player you can tell. I’m not sure if it’s his height. I’m not sure what it is but it seems like he’s slowing down and needs to play the point guard moving forward to have a chance to win a championship
If Cavs make this series go to 6-7 they will win
Doubtful
Everyone looks good when the shots are dropping. It’s during the rough moments when Knicks issues come out. Cavs have bigs who can handle Towns. He needs to play smart. And please stop with the dumb fouls. Mitch has always played well against Cavs. We just can’t push his mins. I been saying this all playoffs. Like to see Sochan and Diawara play more. We will need them this series and next. Brown has to trust his bench. These teams matchup well. So it will be who makes less mistakes. And what other players step up.
NYK2026 …..
Bridges’ offensive performances follow his shot opportunities. When he gets more shots, from his sweet spots, he’s almost always good. His midrange jumper, and his corner 3, percentages are among the best in the league. When he gets a steady diet of those, he’s fine. He struggles with ATB 3’s, and he isn’t a great finisher around the basket. When those are the shots he’s left with, he can struggle.
Not always, but more often than not, when OG is out or not in rhythm, Bridges’ shot chart gets better. Obviously, the NYK are better when both play, but there won’t be many games where both put up great offensive numbers. If the media or fans want to fall in and out of love with him, then it would be better for their health if they base it on his defense. When that’s not great, it’s due to a lack of focus. His offensive numbers are largely outside of his control.