Ariel Hukporti grabbed Mikal Bridges. OG Anunoby and Pacome Dadiet quickly joined the pile. Bridges was being swarmed late Friday night at the Garden – and for good reason.
His block on Dennis Schroder’s layup attempt sealed the Knicks’ win over Brooklyn. Bridges used his seven-foot wingspan to tip Schroder’s shot and save the Knicks from a brutal loss.
New York led by as many as 21 on Friday night but Brooklyn took a two-point lead with 12 seconds to play on Schroder’s three.
Jalen Brunson answered with a three on the wing with six seconds to go. Then Bridges closed the game with the block – the best moment of his brief Knick tenure.
“He gave us good energy offensively, defensively,” Josh Hart said afterward. “People are trying to put pressure on him to be perfect. The beauty of ‘Kal is he’s going to go out there and he’s going to find ways to impact the game – even if it’s not making shots. We’re happy for him. He got traded for five 12th graders, so we good.”
Hart was joking about the draft picks New York sent to Brooklyn in the Bridges trade. The Knicks gave the Nets unprotected first-rounders in 2025, 2027, 2029, 2031 and an unprotected pick swap in 2028.
That haul of picks has put Bridges under the microscope early in his Knicks tenure.
The 28-year-old entered play Friday averaging 15.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. He was also shooting 30 percent from beyond the arc and part of the worst defensive starting five in the NBA. As you’d imagine, some Knicks fans were frustrated with Bridges’ performance. Patience is in short supply when you haven’t won a title in 50 years.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think there’s much panic within the locker room. Yes, the Knicks know the expectations are high. But it’s early in the season and the team is just getting used to one another.
Bridges had a strong game against his former team on Friday. He finished with 22 points (4-for-7 from three), five rebounds, four assists, one steal and a huge game-sealing block.
“He changes the game and impacts the game in many different ways,” Hart said. “People want to talk about shooting or play-making or whatever it is; that’s why you get a guy like that – to impact games like that, to make winning plays. He’s a winning player.”
Hart has made a point to address the criticism of Bridges early in the year. After the Knicks’ blowout loss to Boston on Opening Night, Hart addressed the critiques of Bridges’ shooting form.
“We don’t care about it. He puts the work in every day. He’s going to be good,” Hart said that night. “The talk around it is stupid; there is stupidity to it because at the end of the day, he’s been almost a 40% three-point shooter (for his career). (The) talk around it is stupid and we’re not really going to entertain it.”
Knowing this town and this team, the talk probably won’t stop anytime soon. But if Bridges can play the way he did on Friday with regularity, the talk around Bridges will be about everything he brings to the Knicks – not what the Knicks gave away to get him.
A BIG HART
Speaking of Hart, the 29-year-old bounced back from Wednesday’s ill-timed foul with a near-triple double. He had 14 points, nine rebounds and nine assists against Brooklyn.
Hart wasn’t happy with himself after the loss to the Bulls on Wednesday. But he made a fan for life earlier that day when he gave a Knick fan named Farouk (@BeenHim16) floor tickets to the game. Hart saw people mocking Farouk for the location of his tickets to a game last week and wanted to do something about it.
“Obviously, MSG is a very expensive place. I just saw people kind of roasting him a little bit so I was like, ‘You know what? Why don’t I give him some tickets?” Hart said in an interview late Friday night.
“God has blessed me with being able to be in this situation and I’m grateful for it,” Hart added. “If I can help other people… I’ve done that in Boston. I’m probably going to do that more this season. To give tickets to people that might not be able to go to the game or something like that, I feel like that’s a part of the position we’re in.”
Hart gave the fan pre-game passes and a signed jersey.
“I did not expect this at all,” Farouk said before the game. “It’s unreal.”
Great job by Hart. Here is more background on the gesture.
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