Why Knicks’ late-game Mikal Bridges benchings could be necessary amid title chase

NEW YORK – The New York Knicks’ 18-point comeback victory over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night delivered an enthralling finish. Karl-Anthony Towns’ defensive intensity led the fourth-quarter push that set up Jalen Brunson to save the day. With 5:04 left in the fourth quarter, though, head coach Mike Brown continued a controversial late-game trend by sending Mikal Bridges to the sideline.

The coach replaced the starting wing with Landry Shamet, telling reporters after the game that assistant coach Rick Brunson deserved credit for the idea. On Thursday night against the Detroit Pistons, Bridges sat for the final 9:31 of the game. He also finished contests against the Sacramento Kings and Philadelphia 76ers in late January and early February, respectively, on the bench.

Bridges replaced Towns for the final five seconds of the game, with New York’s four-point lead allowing them to focus on defense. But the 29-year-old wing that Leon Rose and the Knicks’ front office signed to a $150 million extension this summer spent the vast majority of crunch time on the bench.

He watched Brunson dice up Houston’s defense alongside Josh Hart, who sat to make way for the newly-acquired Alvarado. The Brooklynite recorded his third, fourth, and fifth steals of the game in those minutes, making just one of three late shots but providing the energy and aggression New York needed to close out Kevin Durant’s group.

Bridges replicates Celtics playoff magic with clutch 3-pointer vs. Bulls

On Sunday night, the second leg of the Knicks’ weekend back-to-back, the team defeated the Chicago Bulls. Bridges closed the six-point win, hitting a pivotal 3-pointer to seal the victory with 27 seconds left. Up until then, though, the wing had just eight points on 3-9 shooting in over 29 minutes of playing time. The clutch 3-pointer pushed him into double figures and saved the Knicks’ night.

The juxtaposition of late-game roles played by Bridges, from not playing at all to putting the dagger in Chicago’s back, is representative of more than just an up-and-down Sunday night. The two-way wing delivers performances that include quarters, halves, or an entire game’s worth of disappointing play. But, somehow, he often finds a way to make up for it in the end.

In each of the team’s first two games against the Boston Celtics in last year’s playoffs, Bridges won the Knicks the game with an incredibly timely defensive play. The second of those games featured a perfect example of Bridges’ extreme swings. The wing failed to score in the first three quarters, but notched 14 points and his game-winning save in the fourth.

Bridges’ early-game struggles and late-game heroics on Sunday night did not give New York a victory with playoff-level importance. But it further demonstrated the wing’s zero-to-hero range. Under a new coach in Brown, the Knicks are leaning into their depth as Bridges wanted last season. The players, Bridges included, can’t afford to see it as an insult to finish games on the bench.

Their competitive nature should allow them to use any crunch-time benchings as motivation. Someone like Shamet or Alvarado being red-hot from deep doesn’t have to mean that a certain starter’s play was unacceptable. Sometimes, the two coincide. Ultimately, the Knicks should not care.

Brown has stressed the importance of “finding ways to win,” and will likely continue to over the course of the season. That’s something his group needs to pursue with equal fervor, regardless of who’s on the court.

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