steal on Jayson Tatum<\/a> in the final seconds to seal Game 2 of that series. <\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260210NYKVIND2196RS.jpg\")
New York Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) reacts after scoring during the fourth quarter when the New York Knicks played the Indiana Pacers Tuesday, February 10, 2026 at Madison Square Garden. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n
There was his game-tying tip-in with 35.1 seconds left in Game 6 of the first round against the Pistons, a game in which he scored 25 points.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPlayoffs are fun and real amped up and a lot of aggression, a lot of thinking,\u201d Bridges told The Post earlier this month. \u201cIt\u2019s just fun being in those games. The crowd and everything just goes up another level. So it\u2019s always fun playing playoff games. Just trying to do whatever it takes to win.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Does he feel like he raises his game in the postseason?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI would want to,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cI feel like every player would want to. I just try to be the best I can be and try to do whatever it takes to help the team win.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bridges is on the receiving end of more criticism than anyone on the Knicks. Karl-Anthony Towns is probably a close second, but Bridges tops the list, given the five first-round picks the Knicks traded to get him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His regular-season output \u2014 offensively, at least \u2014 has not matched that trade haul. But he\u2019s been vocal about sacrificing offensively for the betterment of the team. <\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260417NYKPract3431RS.jpg\")
New York Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) when the New York Knicks practiced Friday, April 17, 2026 at Madison Square Garden Training Center in Greenburgh, NY. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n
It\u2019s something that Josh Hart voiced support for to The Post, claiming that Bridges could score more if he got more shots, but that\u2019s not what he\u2019s been asked to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Coach Mike Brown has been clear in the offensive hierarchy \u2014 Jalen Brunson first, Karl-Anthony Towns second, everybody else after that. And usually it\u2019s OG Anunoby coming in third, so that makes Bridges the fourth option. <\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
If that\u2019s what you compare him to \u2014 the different fourth options around the league \u2014 rather than his trade compensation, his output looks much stronger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSacrifice for your brothers,\u201d Bridges said after practice Friday. \u201c\u2026 Putting your body on the line, doing whatever it takes to make the play to help your teammates out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fourth option or not, Bridges has shown the ability to make game-changing plays regardless of how he performs beforehand. On a veteran Knicks team, he has as much playoff experience as anyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s kind of what I\u2019ve known,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of my DNA.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One by one, Knicks player after Knicks player echoed the same sentiment \u2014 they will be judged on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3774],"tags":[7,113,126,3866,1260,6,11,56381,191,114,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-712827","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indiana-pacers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-indiana","10":"tag-indiana-pacers","11":"tag-indianapacers","12":"tag-mikal-bridges","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-nba-playoffs","15":"tag-nba-playoffs-2026","16":"tag-new-york-knicks","17":"tag-pacers","18":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116422962010986360","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712827","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=712827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}