{"id":691335,"date":"2026-06-08T09:25:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T09:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/691335\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T09:25:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T09:25:22","slug":"mikal-bridges-2-0-nba-finals-lead-that-went-all-wrong-breeds-simple-knicks-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/691335\/","title":{"rendered":"Mikal Bridges’ 2-0 NBA Finals lead that went all wrong breeds simple Knicks advice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mikal Bridges has been in this exact same position before \u2014 five years ago.<\/p>\n

His Suns thought they were on their way to a championship, leading the Bucks 2-0 in the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

Then, everything went wrong. They didn\u2019t win again.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always going to stick with you,\u201d the two-way wing recalled Sunday, on the eve of the first Finals games at the Garden in 27 years.<\/p>\n

The only difference is that the Knicks are up 2-0 going home, one of three road teams to ever take the first two games of the Finals, along with the 1993 Bulls and 1995 Rockets. But Bridges knows this series isn\u2019t over. He\u2019s seen how quickly things can change.<\/p>\n

In 2023, he joined current (and former) teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart on their podcast, \u201cThe Roommates Show,\u201d and shared his memories.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe over here like, man, it\u2019s light. It\u2019s the East. \u2026 They ran up four straight, I just couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d Bridges said.<\/p>\n

\"MikalMikal Bridges (25) drives to the basket during the game against Julian Champagnie (30) during Game 2 of the 2026 NBA Finals on June 5, 2026. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Bridges is having a terrific postseason, averaging 14.6 points, 2.8 assists, 1.2 steals and an even 38 percent shooting from 3-point range. <\/p>\n

In Game 2, he came up big, finishing with 20 points, six assists and six rebounds.<\/p>\n

\"MikalMikal Bridges defends Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks during Game 5 of the 2021 NBA Finals on July 17 at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

He has spoken to his teammates about his own Finals experience, about not letting their foot off the gas.<\/p>\n

\u201cSame situation, up 2-0, and I\u2019ve got to be able to talk to these guys and just keep [them] levelheaded and just keep playing desperate,\u201d he said after Friday night\u2019s win over the Spurs.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, he added: \u201c[My teammates] all know, too, and they all understand as well, knowing the series is far from over. Got to keep playing desperate and be the more desperate team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this run is that the Knicks have not gotten overconfident. <\/p>\n

They have set a franchise record with 13 consecutive playoff wins, playing desperately despite being ahead. <\/p>\n

A common refrain after these victories are different Knicks saying they have to treat the next game like the series just started, whether it is Game 1 of a series or they\u2019re up 3-0. That mindset has taken them pretty far.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I think we really don\u2019t care too much about the winning streak or anything like that because all that\u2019s in the past,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cI think we do a great job as a team of always knowing that it\u2019s 0-0 after every win, staying locked in on the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mikal Bridges has been in this exact same position before \u2014 five years ago. His Suns thought they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691336,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[36784,355,5489,258292,361,99],"class_list":["post-691335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-mikal-bridges","tag-nba","tag-nba-finals","tag-nba-playoffs-2026","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}