Victor Wembanyama misses a jumper in the final seconds as the Knicks hold on to take a 2-0 series lead in The Finals.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Download the NBA App<\/a> SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Among the many questions swirling around the New York Knicks at the moment \u2013 from the nervous (\u201cCan they really close out these Finals?\u201d) to the cocky (\u201cWhere and when\u2019s the parade?\u201d) \u2013 there\u2019s one that\u2019s sure to ignite a heated debate: \u201cWould the Knicks trade Mikal Bridges right now for five first-round picks?\u201d<\/p>\n OK, that\u2019s more of a playful one, a turnabout on the second-guessing that has lingered since July 2024, when New York gave up five first-round draft picks to acquire Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets. It was a king\u2019s ransom, especially by 2026 standards when NBA asking prices for young stars has decreased.<\/p>\n The price paid made it impossible, in the minds of some, for Bridges ever to play up to the expectations the Knicks might have had for him. He\u2019s never been an All-Star, he\u2019s neither the first nor second scoring option on a good team and he often has failed to impress at the most crucial times.<\/p>\n Until Friday. In Game 2 of the 2026 Finals<\/a> at Frost Bank Center, Bridges put together one of his most thorough and clutch performances ever. He scored 20 points, nine in the third quarter when New York seized temporary control of the game.<\/p>\n Bridges logged a game-high 40:53, chipped in six rebounds and six assists, hit eight of his 13 shots (including 4-for-6 3-pointers). And he did it all against the backdrop of a sputtering Jalen Brunson and foul-plagued Karl-Anthony Towns.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Jalen Brunson (20 points), Mikal Bridges (20 points) and Karl-Anthony Towns (21 points, 13 rebounds) combine for 61 in Game 2 win.<\/p>\n Those two Knicks stars needed some bailing out if their team was going to go up 2-0 on the San Antonio Spurs as the series shifts to New York. And there was Bridges \u2013 along with Landry Shamet, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson but most of all Bridges \u2013 bucket in hand.<\/p>\n \u201cMikal during a stretch of the ballgame was huge for us on both ends of the floor,\u201d coach Mike Brown said. \u201cYou\u2019re not stopping a guy like De\u2019Aaron Fox. You\u2019ve just got to try to make him work. We put Mikal on Fox in the second half a little bit and made him work. <\/p>\n \u201cBut what he did for us offensively when we were struggling, and then when we took Jalen out was huge. He made big play after big play after big play.\u201d<\/p>\n With 3:19 left in the third quarter, the Knicks were vulnerable and their floor general was off his game. After making only three of 11 shots in the first half, Brunson went 1-for-5 after halftime before Brown sat him at that timeout. Towns already was on the bench after picking up his fourth foul. The Knicks\u2019 lead once had been 11 points but had dwindled to 76-72.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when Bridges found himself on the floor with four reserves \u2013 Shamet, Robinson, Miles McBride and Jose Alvarado \u2013 and the ball mostly in his hands. He hit a couple shots, found Robinson on an alley-oop, grabbed a key defensive rebound and pushed his team\u2019s lead back to nine points, 84-75, by the end of the period.<\/p>\n Things got worse before they got better, but Bridges\u2019 calm hand in the third and contributions throughout the night kept the Knicks in position to seize the series two games in.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I think [it] started just defensively getting stops,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cI think that\u2019s the biggest thing, us getting stops and getting out. Just [Brown] giving me confidence to try to make the right play. \u2026 I trust everybody out there on that court.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Mikal Bridges and Mitchell Robinson speak with the media following Friday’s 105-104 Game 2 victory over the Spurs.<\/p>\n Said teammate Josh Hart, another foul-hampered Knick whom Bridges helped get off the hook: \u201cYou can\u2019t say enough about him. I\u2019m not surprised about it. I don\u2019t think anyone else is surprised or should be surprised. That\u2019s what he does. He\u2019s a winning basketball player. He makes big-time shots, big-time stops.\u201d<\/p>\n Bridges became the first Knicks player to put up at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in a Finals game since (wait for it) Walt Frazier.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the kind of dry spell, 53 years since New York\u2019s last championship in 1973, that prompted the front office to grab Bridges when they could two summers ago, no matter the price. His play the past two seasons has dragged along a nagging referendum, a series of assessments as his performances rose and fell.<\/p>\n Worth it. Not worth it. Worth it. Not worth it.<\/p>\n And then Friday, with his timely production and the circumstances in which Bridges came up so big, most definitely worth it.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him\u00a0here<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on X<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Complete coverage: 2026 NBA Finals<\/a><\/p>\n