Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Mikal Bridges, on the other hand, is going through a trying period, to say the least. The man the Knicks traded five first-round picks for is shooting 39 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3 in March — the latter number he’s doing for the second month in a row. Bridges primarily takes high-variance shots in this offense, and part of that is on him. The 3s are a natural part of Brown’s offense, but the mid-range jumpers Bridges relies on heavily are a choice. His layups mostly come in transition and, because of that, he rarely gets to the free-throw line. So, when the jumper isn’t falling, his performances can be loud for the wrong reasons. Defensively, Bridges has been fine. But he’s better off the ball, jumping passing lanes, than he has been as the primary on-ball defender. This starting lineup needs a dogged on-ball defender, and that role just doesn’t consistently suit Bridges. Shamet has done that job more consistently this season. The injured Miles McBride, too, might be a better option in that department.
After the game, Brown was asked specifically about Bridges’ struggles. "We all have to play better. It’s no secret Mikal has not shot the ball well. But he’s given us life at times and given us life at the right time. I thought he was fantastic in Indiana. On both ends of the floor. So it’s not just Mikal. It’s us collectively as a group," the coach said.
“The aggression thing is not an issue at all. I don’t think that’s the issue at all,” said Bridges, who failed to score a point in Sunday’s loss to the Lakers and was benched in crunch time of Monday’s defeat to the Clippers. “Even if I miss a couple, there’s nothing wrong with that. Nah, I don’t think that’s the issue.” So what is it? “I don’t know,” Bridges answered. “I think it’s just the game of basketball. Sometimes you try to get open and sometimes it doesn’t find me. Just try to find ways to stay aggressive. That’s it.”
Q: Do you think it’s still possible to have an Iron Man streak today? Mikal Bridges is probably the closest right now, somewhere in the 500s. Could anyone realistically approach what you accomplished with the way teams and training staff manage the regular season now? A.C.: “Playing every night is tough, in today's world load management is favored by teams, now it's about the drive and attitude that will get you there. They [the training staff] make it harder. They definitely make it harder. Because the focus is more of a long term play that they're looking at.” Q: Did the training staff ever suggest that you take a night off — other than the time when you broke your teeth? “ It's a great question, but no it didn't happen!”
Dan Weiss: Harrison Barnes (ankle) has been ruled out. His 364 consecutive games streak will come to an end tonight as he misses his first game since December 4, 2021. Julian Champagnie (163 games) currently has the second longest consecutive games streak behind Mikal Bridges (615 games).
Advertisement
Ian Begley: Mikal Bridges' team-high 25 points and game-high five steals help NYK beat the Spurs, (114-89) snapping SAS's 11-game winning streak. Not hyperbole to call this one of most impressive wins of this Knick season; 6 players scored at least 10 pts and team defense was strong all afternoon.
Cunningham had his way with every defender the Knicks threw at him -- whether it was OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges or, late in the game, new addition Jeremy Sochan. Cunningham was 5-of-11 from 3-point range and added two blocks. "I don't think you pick an MVP based off, you know, just one game or one statement," Bickerstaff said. "He's been this way for the entire season. He's dominated both ends of the floor and impacted winning in a major way."
After the Knicks win over the Raptors in Toronto last week, when Bridges scored 30 points, his answer on the MSG Network broadcast went viral for how honest he was. Bridges admitted that he was “feeling too entitled” and “wasn’t being coachable.” That realization wasn’t prompted by the coaching staff or his teammates — it came from within. “I think my biggest thing is being accountable, accountability,” Bridges told The Post after the win over the Lakers Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. “You spend a lot of time by yourself, so just trying to realize what I gotta do to be better. I think that was one of the big things — I wasn’t being accountable enough for things that were happening. And not me being coachable as well, as I should.”
According to Highkin, the Blazers are willing to act as a third team — if they get a player they really like. But Highkin doesn’t think Mikal Bridges (Knicks) or Jalen McDaniels (Timberwolves) would fit that bill. As Highkin writes, the Blazers were interested in Bridges, but that was a few years ago when he was obviously younger and on a more team-friendly contract, not the four-year, $150MM extension that will begin next season.
Some extra days of practice recently have given the Knicks an opportunity to change that. Now, they have switched to a scheme that emphasizes forcing ball-handlers to the baseline and sideline in order to keep the ball out of the middle and the paint — much more common around the league. “I think it’s better for us, the way we’re doing it now,” Bridges said. “I think it was a little bit, maybe, tougher for us, how we used to do it. But I think it’s better for us now. … I think just everybody knows what we’re doing and what we’re sending to the ball and stuff like that. “I think our defense has been so much better. Everybody’s been on a string, knowing what we’re doing. It’s been great.”
Advertisement
Per league sources, the Knicks will be one of several teams that have and will continue to inquire heavily about Antetokounmpo. The Bucks are looking for a premier young player(s) and multiple, good draft picks in exchange for one of the three best players in the NBA. The Knicks have neither of those, and to get close to what the Bucks are asking for, New York would need to trade two or three players in its starting lineup, most likely OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and/or Karl-Anthony Towns. The latter two, per multiple league sources, aren’t believed to have the same value today as when the Knicks traded for them, so that could be a hurdle in itself. It’s unclear if the Knicks and Dolan are willing to give up their hopes of making the finals this season in order to acquire Antetokounmpo sooner rather than later. New York hasn’t been as good as many projected coming into the season, but it’s still a good team and the Eastern Conference’s only dominant squad is the young Pistons.
Kristian Winfield: Full Mikal Bridges quote on how his poor shooting nights in recent games spurred a night like tonight's 30-point eruption: "A lot. I think a lot of it comes from not just shooting the ball, but I wasn't playing how I was supposed to be playing. I wasn't coachable enough. I don't know what it was. Maybe I felt too much entitlement, but I had to just talk to myself about it and be coachable, be the best teammate I can be and let the basketball speak for itself."
Blazers officials have always viewed Giannis Antetokounmpo's potential Milwaukee exit as a chance to improve their own roster by jumping into a multi-team deal. So there is absolutely a down-the-road world where the Blazers could try to butt into, say, Milwaukee/New York talks if Giannis-to-the-Knicks ever got serious. File this away as well: League sources say Portland has long admired New York's Mikal Bridges going back to Lillard's first stint as a Blazer.
Bub Carrington does not regard his newest accomplishment as a big deal. But the numbers reveal how rare his achievement is. On Thursday night, when his Washington Wizards host the Denver Nuggets, he will play in his 125th consecutive regular-season NBA game. Streaks like Carrington’s don’t happen often. He owns the NBA’s fourth-longest active consecutive games streak, trailing only the New York Knicks’ Mikal Bridges and the San Antonio Spurs’ Harrison Barnes and Julian Champagnie, according to Sportradar.
