The Boston Celtics weren’t going down without a fight.
Jalen Brunson’s 18-point third quarter had just turned what was once a 14-point deficit into a three-point Knicks lead going into the fourth quarter of Game 4, but the Celtics had another punch in them.
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Enter Mikal Bridges.
Bridges’ clutch shot-making down the stretch Monday night proved invaluable as the Knicks completed another improbable come-from-behind win, putting them up 3-1 in the second-round playoff series over the defending champion Celtics.
The forward scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the fourth quarter of the 121-113 victory at Madison Square Garden, once again giving the Knicks exactly what they needed in a crucial postseason moment.
“It’s the will to win,” Bridges, 28, said. “That’s pretty much it. Just having the fight to win, doing whatever it takes.”
The Knicks entered the fourth with an 88-85 lead, but with Brunson out of the game to start the quarter, someone else needed to step up.
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Bridges made jumpers on the Knicks’ first two possessions, then found a driving Karl-Anthony Towns for an assist on their next basket as the lead increased to 94-89.
Brunson checked back in with 8:53 left in the game, but Bridges remained the offensive focal point, sinking another pull-up jumper on the Knicks’ next possession.
And the Knicks needed all of it.
Jayson Tatum scored 11 points in the first six minutes of the fourth, including a 3-pointer that gave Boston a 99-98 lead with 7:17 to go.
But Bridges hit another jumper the next time down the court, and the Knicks never trailed again. Bridges added another basket with 3:22 left in the game, putting the Knicks up by seven points.
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Bridges went 6-of-15 in the first three quarters but finished with 23 points on 11-of-21 shooting, along with seven rebounds, three assists, four steals and a block.
He made each of his first five field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter.
“He played hard the whole game,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I thought he had some good looks that didn’t go in, but that didn’t sway him at all. He got going big time in the fourth quarter. Those were huge shots he hit.”
The late-game heroics continued a torrid postseason for Bridges, who was often the subject of scrutiny during his first season with the Knicks.
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The Knicks traded five first-round picks to the Nets last summer to acquire Bridges, envisioning his two-way profile as a proven scorer and elite wing defender as a missing piece.
It took time for Bridges to mesh, even though he was college teammates at Villanova with Brunson and Josh Hart. The Knicks deployed Bridges differently than the Nets did, including by asking him to regularly defend the point of attack.
“I’m so proud of him as a teammate, as a friend, going through all the adversity that he’s gone through this season,” Hart said. “He’s never complained. He always comes to work happy, smiling. He deserves his credit and his flowers.”
Bridges was similarly clutch in the Knicks’ series-ending Game 6 win over the Detroit Pistons in the first round, when he scored 25 points and delivered a game-tying tip-in with 35.1 seconds remaining.
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He then sealed the Knicks’ wins in Games 1 and 2 in Boston with a steal in the waning seconds both nights, first against Jaylen Brown and then against Tatum.
“I’ve seen him since 2015,” said Brunson, who won two NCAA championships with Bridges. “I’ve seen the way his work ethic has grown each year, and I’ve seen everything he does, how psychotic he is with his work. It all pays off. I have full trust in him no matter what the situation is.”