Knicks’ Bridges after the bench change in the fourth quarter: “I have to play better”

Curtsy forward Mikal BridgesThe early season woes continued Friday as he scored eight points on 3 of 10 shooting and was a team-worst -14 against Charlotte. Although he played 37 minutes, Bridges was on the bench for most of the fourth quarter – he was pulled when the Knicks were down four points with 8:25 left, and came in with 13 seconds left and New York ahead by four points back on the defensive.

As Stefan Bondy of the New York Post writes, head coach Tom Thibodeau declared after the comeback victory that he took part Miles McBride about Bridges in crunch time because McBride was “fresh” and “making shots,” adding that the Knicks were “kind of stuck in the mud.” Bridges called it the right decision.

“I have to play better. I was inconsistent,” Bridges said. “I had some games where I played well, others not. I just have to find a rhythm within the team. That’s pretty much it. It hasn’t even been 20 games yet, I’m still trying to figure it out. … I had a lot of sloppy turnovers. A few times (where the opponent) scored when I came into the middle. I’m feeling better.”

Bridges leads the NBA in minutes played (38.1 MPG) in his first 19 appearances, but has seen an overall decline in performance. He averages 15.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game and has the worst shooting percentage of his career at 30.6% on three-pointers and 61.5% on free throws. After reaching the foul line 4.1 times per game over the last two seasons, he is averaging just 0.7 attempts per night so far in the 2024-25 season.

The Knicks acquired Bridges from Brooklyn over the summer by trading away a sizable package of draft assets that included five first-round picks (four of them unprotected) and a pick swap. The return on that investment has been modest so far, but Bridges and his teammates remain confident that it’s only a matter of time before he finds his footing in New York.

“I’m not worried about (bridges).” Bends forward Josh Hart said after Friday’s game, per Bondy. “I think the media and people are killing him. He is in a new situation. He finds himself in a situation where he has played 19 games in a different role than he has played in the last four years. So it’s our job to make it work.

“And all this other nonsense about what we gave up means nothing. If we win, if we win a championship, no one cares how many picks we gave up. We could have given up 15 picks, it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, we’re trying to win a championship. He will play a key role in this.”