{"id":622942,"date":"2026-02-25T00:37:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T00:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/622942\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T00:37:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T00:37:35","slug":"landry-shamets-knicks-play-is-forcing-a-mikael-bridges-sacrifice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/622942\/","title":{"rendered":"Landry Shamet’s Knicks play is forcing a Mikael Bridges sacrifice"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND \u2014 The ascension of Landry Shamet, whose recovery from a shoulder injury has gone about as well as the Knicks could\u2019ve hoped, has translated to a decreased role for Mikal Bridges.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Especially in the past month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ahead of Tuesday\u2019s showdown against the Cavaliers \u2014 and after coach Mike Brown explained that utilizing Shamet, among other reserves, will result in diminished opportunities for the starters \u2014 Bridges agreed that \u201csacrifice\u201d is now part of the gig.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s for everybody. Me as well,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cYou\u2019ve just got to sacrifice, find your moments and play the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown has shown a willingness to ride with Shamet at the two-guard spot, including down the stretch of close contests, which has resulted in Bridges sitting for most of the fourth quarters in three games this month. Bridges\u2019 overall minutes, shot attempts and fourth-quarter minutes<\/a> were down in the 15 games before Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shamet\u2019s were up as he provided the coach with reliable defense and elite 3-point shooting at a 42-percent clip.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBall has gone in,\u201d Shamet said. \u201cI\u2019m trying to play basketball, man. It\u2019s fun. The system is great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown noted that starters\u2019 minutes are down across the board as he incorporates a more talented bench than last season \u2014 with Mitchell Robinson being more available than last season, Jose Alvarado\u2019s acquisition at the trade deadline and Shamet\u2019s rise to two-way consistency.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NewKnicks guard Landry Shamet sinks a three-point shot against the Los Angeles Lakers. JASON SZENES\/ NY POST<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start going down the line, you see guys are playing well, you\u2019re going to try to find ways to get them in the game,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWhen you try to find ways to get them in the game, it\u2019s going to be less minutes for other guys.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s a fine balance \u2014 I\u2019ve said this about Landry, he had 23 [minutes in Sunday\u2019s win over the Bulls]. So it\u2019s great if I can keep him at 23. But I\u2019m not always going to keep him at 23. He played 23. Mikal played 30. So it\u2019s give and take where if somebody is playing well, we\u2019ll try to keep them on the floor, but that might mean others will see their field goal attempts and their minutes may go down because they\u2019re not on the floor as much.\u201d<\/p>\n

This change was expected for Josh Hart. It\u2019s more surprising with Bridges, who was acquired for five first-round picks and signed a $150 million contract extension in the summer \u2014 right after he led the NBA in total minutes and was second per game at 37. But it would also be hypocritical for Bridges to complain. Toward the end of last season, Bridges famously lobbied for fewer minutes while calling out Tom Thibodeau for not trusting the reserves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"New Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) looks to drive past Houston Rockets guard Reed Sheppard. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Shamet was part of that bench last season, but never got the opportunity he\u2019s capitalizing on under Brown. His 3-point efficiency is 10th in the NBA among players with at least 174 attempts. It\u2019s impressive after his shoulder was dislocated again in November, requiring a nearly two-month recovery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And in the past 10 games before Tuesday, he was averaging over 27 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to play basketball, man. When you\u2019re hurt, you\u2019re not in a position where you can compete and play. So at the end of the day, I\u2019m just happy I\u2019m able to compete and play,\u201d said Shamet, who had to earn a roster spot in training camp after signing a nonguaranteed deal. \u201cIt\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a really fun group to play with. The constant pursuit of trying to get better and grow collectively, that\u2019s something I enjoy. It\u2019s cool to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Bridges said he\u2019s happy for Shamet, too, even if it means he has to sacrifice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLandry\u2019s so good, plays the game the right way,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cI know he\u2019s been dealing with the shoulder stuff for some time. Just happy he\u2019s healthy and playing, because this is how he plays when he\u2019s healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND \u2014 The ascension of Landry Shamet, whose recovery from a shoulder injury has gone about as well…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3768],"tags":[7,304,4988,1260,6,1136,191,3810,3806,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-622942","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-knicks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-knicks","10":"tag-landry-shamet","11":"tag-mikal-bridges","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-knicks","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkknicks","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116128479276338100","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}