Mike Brown kept his faith in Mikal Bridges.
And Bridges has since rewarded him.
After the first three games of the first round against the Hawks, Brown faced a litany of questions about whether he would take Bridges out of the starting lineup.
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Bridges had largely been benched late in games and had been uninvolved offensively.
Brown acknowledged that “everything is on the table,” but supported Bridges and opted against shaking up the starting unit.
“It’s always great when your coach has got trust in you,” Bridges said after practice Saturday. “Yeah, that’s great. And teammates staying with it, keeping me confident, as well. I think we all know the end goal is just trying to win games and do whatever it takes to win. Even in my mistakes, just try to do whatever it takes and know that I just gotta bounce back and learn from them.”
Mikal Bridges drives to the basket during the Knicks’ May 6 playoff game against the 76ers. Charles Wenzelberg
Bridges thrived in the second round against the 76ers, averaging 17.5 points per game on 63.8 percent shooting from the field and 38.5 percent shooting from 3-point range.
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That was a big jump up from the 10.0 points per game he averaged in the first round and more than the 14.4 points per game he averaged in the regular season.
He helped fill the scoring void with OG Anunoby missing Games 3 and 4 due to a right hamstring strain.
And his defense on Tyrese Maxey was terrific.
“I was just telling the truth,” Brown said Saturday. “He can play, he’s been in this situation before, we’ve had success with him. So I was just basically answering the questions regarding him. He’s earned the right to be there. He’s earned the right to do a lot of different things. And I was just reiterating it. He’s definitely an important piece of what we’re trying to do.”
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It’s become a bit of a recurring theme for Bridges, now in his second season with the Knicks.
Last year, he had a rocky regular season before elevating in the postseason and delivering some of the most consequential plays of the run to the Eastern Conference finals.
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This year’s regular season again left a lot to be desired and raised persistent questions about his impact.
But right now, he’s playing some of his best basketball.
“Just continue to play,” Bridges said. “I think that’s really what it is. You can’t look at the past. You learn from it, but just be present and do what you gotta do to get better. I think that’s really it. Just learn from each game and try to get better every single game. And that’s really it. I always try to play to help [the team] win and just keep trying to get better. That’s been the outcome.”
