{"id":687593,"date":"2026-05-22T15:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/687593\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T15:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:44:12","slug":"mikal-bridges-keeps-being-everything-knicks-could-ask-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/687593\/","title":{"rendered":"Mikal Bridges keeps being everything Knicks could ask for"},"content":{"rendered":"

There have been too many games across these past two seasons when it has been too easy to forget Mikal Bridges is in the building. There have been too many times he\u2019ll disappear into the corner and watch his teammates work. There have been too many quiet nights that make it feel like his initial run with the Nets in 2023 \u2014 when he averaged 26.1 points for a playoff team \u2014 was a fever dream.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Too often, it has felt like Bridges forged James Dolan\u2019s signature to secure his $150 million extension. Too rarely has Bridges felt as valuable as the five first-round picks the Knicks gave away in hopes of elevating their title chances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But now? Bridges is everything the Knicks imagined.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what he\u2019s capable of,\u201d OG Anunoby said. \u201cHe\u2019s an amazing player. He\u2019s been his whole career. I\u2019m not surprised at all. This is Mikal: He\u2019s a great player\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bridges maintained much-needed aggressiveness on both ends of the floor in his ninth consecutive strong performance, helping the Knicks earn their ninth straight win, 109-93 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals<\/a> at Madison Square Garden.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NewMikal Bridges goes up for a layup during the Knicks\u2019 109-93 Game 2 win over the Cavaliers on May 21, 2026 at the Garden. Jason Szenes for the NY Post<\/p>\n

Bridges finished with 19 points (9-for-12 shooting from the field), three rebounds, three assists, one steal and no turnovers, repeatedly attacking the paint and delivering from midrange, refusing to settle for 3-pointers, but making the only one he took.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just taking what the defense gives me,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cI\u2019m just being aggressive. If I\u2019m open, shoot. If not, drive. That\u2019s it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bridges, who had 18 points (7-for-11 shooting) in Game 1, was the unsung hero of the 22-point comeback, shutting down James Harden and hitting a pair of clutch 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NewMikal Bridges looks to pass during the Knicks\u2019 Game 2 win over the Cavaliers. Charles Wenzelberg<\/p>\n

Less than a month ago, Bridges\u2019 confidence looked shot and his starting job appeared in jeopardy after he finished with zero points in a Game 3 loss in Atlanta that put the Knicks two losses from the end of their season. <\/p>\n

Now, the Knicks are two wins from reaching the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, buoyed by Bridges\u2019 inspired two-way play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tKnicks Merch Shop\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNew York Post receives revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and when you make a purchase.\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Bridges is averaging 18.7 points, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals in his past seven games, while shooting 68.3 percent from the field and 44.4 percent on 3-pointers. <\/p>\n

Since being held scoreless, Bridges has hit at least half his shots during each victory of the Knicks winning streak while silencing the likes of Harden, Tyrese Maxey and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just started to impose his will on the game a little bit more,\u201d coach Mike Brown said. \u201cI also have to make sure I call his number every once in a while and make sure he stays in the flow because he has a tough assignment every game defensively \u2026 I have to make sure I continue to involve him offensively to let him know: \u2018Hey, we know you can do this for us. So go do it.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There have been too many games across these past two seasons when it has been too easy to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,17603,12834,590,13799,288644,1666,85],"class_list":["post-687593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-mikal-bridges","tag-nba","tag-nba-playoffs","tag-nba-playoffs-2026","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}