failed to score a point in Sunday\u2019s loss <\/a>to the Lakers and was benched in crunch time of Monday\u2019s defeat to the Clippers. \u201cEven if I miss a couple, there\u2019s nothing wrong with that. Nah, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the issue.\u201d<\/p>\nSo what is it?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Bridges answered. \u201cI think it\u2019s just the game of basketball. Sometimes you try to get open and sometimes it doesn\u2019t find me. Just try to find ways to stay aggressive. That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, Bridges believes this is more about a lack of opportunity than broken confidence. And whether that\u2019s it or the reasons run deeper, Bridges\u2019 second season with the Knicks \u2014 which started strong and efficient \u2014 had devolved into disappointment heading into the Jazz game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York Knicks guard Mikal Bridges Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Since the All-Star break and before Wednesday, Bridges averaged just 11.4 points and under 30 minutes while shooting 43.2 percent overall and 34.1 percent on treys.<\/p>\n
Prior to the All-Star break, Bridges was up to 15.9 points in 34.5 minutes while shooting 50.4 percent overall and 38.6 percent on threes.<\/p>\n
When you combine pre- and post-All-Star, Bridges is averaging his fewest points and shot attempts since 2021-22 with the Phoenix Suns.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) goes to the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7) at Madison Square Garden. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
On top of his declines in efficiency, Bridges was losing playing time to his surging backup, Landry Shamet, including in fourth quarters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jalen Brunson, who was teammates with Bridges at Villanova, said he offers reassurance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTell him to keep shooting. Tell him to keep playing,\u201d Brunson said. \u201cHe\u2019s out there. So he has to continue to be who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t supposed to be such a slog for Bridges this season. The coaching change \u2014 from Tom Thibodeau to Mike Brown \u2014 was pitched as an avenue toward unlocking Bridges\u2019 All-Star capabilities through a faster and freestyling offense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Less structure and fewer isolations (Brown says he doesn\u2019t call plays) theoretically meant a better version of Bridges, who is one of the top-conditioned players in the NBA and thrives with movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That began harmoniously as Bridges excelled through most of December. Lately, though, his attempts and conversions have dropped.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s got its pros and cons,\u201d Bridges said about Brown\u2019s offense, specifically when asked about not having plays called. \u201cYou try to have the feel of the game sometimes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The good news that Knicks fans can fall back on is that Bridges also struggled through stretches of last season before awakening like a five-alarm fire in the playoffs. His heroic performances in Rounds 1 and 2 against the Pistons and Celtics, respectively, were viewed as justification for signing Bridges in the summer to a four-year, $150 million extension \u2014 which doesn\u2019t start until next season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was also his big Christmas of 2024 against the Spurs, and the OT thriller a year ago in Portland. So Bridges is capable. He\u2019s proven it. But that also makes his regression this season more confounding as he adjusts to a decreased role.<\/p>\n
Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) shoots the ball against Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura (28) at Crypto.com Arena. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all right,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to do whatever it takes to win, trying to find opportunities, try to do all the right things and be aggressive.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes [the ball] doesn\u2019t come my way. Just try to do other things.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SALT LAKE CITY \u2014 The precipitous fall in Mikal Bridges\u2019 stats is widespread.\u00a0 Points. Minutes. Efficiency. They\u2019ve all…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3768],"tags":[7,304,1260,6,1136,191,3810,3806,66],"class_list":["post-653452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-knicks","tag-basketball","tag-knicks","tag-mikal-bridges","tag-nba","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkknicks","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116213019368510719","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653452","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=653452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}