Give credit to New York Knicks coach Mike Brown. Last year, as the spring wore on and the NBA playoffs approached, there were increasing calls to make a move on the team’s starting lineup. Specifically, the problem was wing Mikal Bridges, who was a shell of himself down the stretch–after the All-Star break, Bridges saw his scoring drop from 15.9 points to 11.3, and his 3-point shooting went from 38.6% to 33.3%. With Landry Shamet and other options on hand, Brown was pressed to make a change.
He didn’t, and Bridges rewarded him–he averaged 13.5 points and shot 55.9% from the field and 36.5% from the 3-point line in the playoffs, and his 20-point showing in Game 2 against the Spurs was key to giving the Knicks an insurmountable lead in the NBA Finals.
Knicks Should ‘Think About Sitting Him’
Now, eight months later, Brown is in a similar situation with the Knicks. He has other options on the bench–notably Shamet and Miles McBride–who are outplaying Bridges badly. For the season, Bridges is averaging a measly 5.9 points in 24.4 minutes, both career lows. He is shooting 32.9% and 26.5% from the 3-point line, and though he is not injured, he is playing like it. Bridges has not hit double-digit scoring since October 30, and he was 1-for-3 with two points on Wednesday against the Cavaliers.
“I think with a lot of those guys, there is rust,” one Eastern Conference scout said. “With Mikal, it is something different. You can see everyone else getting back into the NBA season, but he just is not. They need to think about sitting him until he gets it figured out.”
Speaking on his “Clun 520 Podcast” longtime NBA veteran Jeff Teague said it was time to bench Bridges: “It’s like so bad. I’ve never seen nobody go from this to this like, and still a starter, you know what I mean? You ever seen a starter? Like I’ve never seen. Have y’all ever seen that drastic of a drop off though? I’m just saying it’s game 11, right? After five games a good starter, five or six games you will see him have like a 15- to 25-point night.”
Minutes Show Mikal Bridges Effectively Benched Already
At The Athletic on Thursday, James Edwards wrote that the Knicks and Mike Brown have already essentially given up on Bridges, and are keeping him in the starting lineup more as a sign of respect than because he has earned it. Bridges played only 17 minutes in each of the past two games, and rarely plays at the end of close games.
Edwards wrote: “Brown is saying the right things. A coach shouldn’t publicly give up on a player with Bridges’ track record so soon, especially on the heels of winning a championship with Bridges playing a major role. Leave that to the fans and pundits.
“Yet Brown’s actions suggest that he has given up on Bridges for now.”
He just needs to make the next step, and pull him as a starter.
Knicks Calls Mount for Drastic Action on Mikal Bridges