{"id":663697,"date":"2026-03-17T22:27:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T22:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/663697\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T22:27:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T22:27:19","slug":"knicks-need-to-get-mikal-bridges-back-into-scoring-rhythm-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/663697\/","title":{"rendered":"Knicks need to get Mikal Bridges back into scoring rhythm \u2014 fast"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a perfect world, this is the time of year the Knicks<\/a> would be sharpening their edge.<\/p>\n

Not searching for it.<\/p>\n

With just over 10 games left in the regular season<\/a>, this is supposed to be the stretch where rotations tighten, chemistry solidifies and key pieces lock into form ahead of the playoffs. Instead, the Knicks are still trying to get one of their most important players going.<\/p>\n

And not just anyone.<\/p>\n

Mikal Bridges.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou hope that you can get everybody in rhythm but there\u2019s 15 different guys,\u201d Knicks head coach Mike Brown said. \u201cSometimes that may not happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Knicks, it has to happen with Bridges.<\/p>\n

There may not be a more important swing piece on the roster \u2014 not with the price they paid, not with the role he\u2019s supposed to play, and not with the expectations attached to this season.<\/p>\n

The Knicks traded five first-round picks to the Nets two summers ago to acquire Bridges, a move that signaled a clear shift: This was a franchise pushing its chips in, building a contender around his Villanova connection with Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart.<\/p>\n

Now, as the Knicks head into the final stretch of a season ownership expects to end in an NBA Finals appearance, Bridges is stuck in one of the worst extended offensive funks of his career.<\/p>\n

The numbers tell it plainly.<\/p>\n

Bridges is averaging 14.8 points per game on 48.8% shooting from the field and 37.3% from three \u2014 his lowest scoring output since the 2021-22 season in Phoenix.<\/p>\n

And in March, it has cratered.<\/p>\n

Bridges is averaging just 10 points per game on under 40% shooting from the field and 30% from beyond the arc. He scored fewer than 10 points in five of the six games entering Tuesday\u2019s matchup against the Indiana Pacers, including a zero-point outing in 27 minutes in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n

The shot isn\u2019t falling. And lately, the opportunities have followed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than anything else, you hope that everyone\u2019s playing the right way. So if my shot\u2019s not falling, what does that mean?\u201d Brown said, asked about getting players in general \u2014 not Bridges \u2014 rolling entering the playoffs. \u201cMaybe I try to get to the rim, or I try to go get an offensive rebound, or I try to get out in transition and get an easy one just to see it go in.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo those types of things you hope guys realize and try to embrace to help get a rhythm while we\u2019re trying to help them, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The concern isn\u2019t just the misses. It\u2019s the role.<\/p>\n

Bridges, who led the NBA in total minutes last season, has played fewer than 30 minutes in five of his last nine games. He still leads the team in fourth-quarter minutes per game on the season, but that leash has shortened on nights when the shot isn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n

In other words: when the Knicks need offense late, Bridges has not consistently been part of the answer.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a problem \u2014 because Bridges is supposed to be a release valve. The two-way wing who punishes defenses for loading up on Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. The player who can swing a quarter, or a game, without needing the offense built around him.<\/p>\n

The player the Knicks thought they were getting when they sent their monster Giannis offer to the Nets.<\/a><\/p>\n

Right now, he\u2019s searching for that version of himself. The Knicks can live with that \u2014 to a point.<\/p>\n

Because Bridges still gives them something most teams can\u2019t replicate: a defensive stopper capable of taking on the toughest assignments when it matters most.<\/p>\n

Just ask Cade Cunningham.<\/p>\n

Bridges came up with a critical isolation stop in crunch time of the Knicks\u2019 Game 6 elimination win over the Detroit Pistons in last year\u2019s first round. And against Boston, he delivered key defensive possessions against Jaylen Brown in Games 1 and 2 of the second round.<\/p>\n

That part isn\u2019t in question. It never is, even when he struggles as the Knicks\u2019 go-to regular season point of attack defender.<\/p>\n

Bridges will defend. He will compete. He will take on the most dynamic perimeter matchup every night.<\/p>\n

But defense alone won\u2019t justify the investment. Not with the stakes this high. Not with the Knicks chasing more than just a playoff appearance.<\/p>\n

They need his offense. They need his spacing.<\/p>\n

They need the version of Bridges who can score 20 without forcing it and 30 when the moment demands it.<\/p>\n

And they need it soon.<\/p>\n

Because what the Knicks are seeing right now is a player expending so much on one end that there may not be enough left on the other \u2014 and a coaching staff still searching for ways to pull him out of it before the games start to matter more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about embracing the details,\u201d Brown said, \u201cfocusing the right way, and playing with a sense of urgency while making other teams feel us at this point in the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Knicks have time \u2014 but not much.<\/p>\n

And if Bridges doesn\u2019t find his rhythm before April, they may find out the hard way just how thin the margin for error really is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a perfect world, this is the time of year the Knicks would be sharpening their edge. Not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3785],"tags":[7,423,304,23817,1260,6,422,427,3972],"class_list":{"0":"post-663697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-utah-jazz","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-jazz","10":"tag-knicks","11":"tag-kristian-winfield","12":"tag-mikal-bridges","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-utah","15":"tag-utah-jazz","16":"tag-utahjazz"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116246875406311840","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663697","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=663697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}