Mikal Bridges has gone from zero to hero, helping Knicks to within one game of first NBA Finals since 1999

Mikal Bridges has gone from zero to hero for the New York Knicks, and the first part of that adage is no figure of speech. It seems like a lifetime ago now, but Bridges literally went for zero points in New York’s Game 3 loss vs. Atlanta. It was the low point of Bridges’ New York tenure, and the Knicks looked like they were in real danger of what would’ve been a disastrous first-round upset. 

My how things have changed. 

Since that time the Knicks have 10 straight playoff games — three straight to finish the Hawks, then four more in a sweep of Philadelphia, and now they’ve gone up 3-0 on the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals after a 121-108 victory on Saturday. One more win and New York is in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

Bridges isn’t the hero of this run, but he’s one of them. And given the way this was going, and how mercilessly his name was being dragged through the mud for the five-pick price the Knicks paid to get him, it makes this a cool story on a deeper level than just basketball. 

Let’s get the numbers, which are almost hilarious. Over his last eight games, dating back to the clincher against the Hawks in which he had 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting, Bridges has averaged 19.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals on on 69/48/100 shooting splits. 

No player in history has matched those shooting numbers over an eight-game playoff stretch while averaging at least 15 PPG, and Bridges is averaging damn near 20. This has literally never been seen before. Even if you toss out all the other numbers except the field-goal percentage LeBron James is the only other player in history who has won 10 straight playoff games while making half his shots. 

And there is no sign of Bridges slowing down. On Saturday, he hung 22 points, six rebounds, three steals, two assists and a pair of blocks on the Cavs while making 11 of his 15 shots. 

It’s impossible to have watched Bridges over this stretch and not notice the dramatic shift in his approach. Look at the reel above again. Every shot is from the free-throw line down. Eight at the rim. Two mid-range pull-ups. A couple floaters. This has been an ongoing theme as Bridges has cut his 3-point attempt rate from 5.1 per game in the regular season to under three per game in the playoffs. So much for the midrange game being dead. 

It has been a long time since we have seen Bridges in this kind of attack mode. Look here in Game 2 as he flares out to catch a pass at the 3-point line, where he has daylight if he wants to launch a shot. Instead, he uses a pick from Mitchell Robinson to probe his way into the paint for a much more efficient floater. 

Again in Game 2, he catches at the top and the instant he senses Max Strus anticipating a dribble handoff he turns downhill and finishes a lofting bank shot over Evan Mobley. 

That is a confident move. The Bridges that was putting up bagels early against the Hawks just does the DHO and fades back out to the perimeter. This Bridges is different. He’s hunting scoring opportunities. Turning corners on a mission. Sprinting ahead in transition. Pull up on a dime. 

This is a guy who took just three shots in that scoreless game against Atlanta. On Saturday he fired up 15, and he hasn’t taken fewer than 10 since Game 5 of the first round. Since that time, he has made an absurd 89.7% of his shots inside the restricted area (35 for 39), 61.7% in the paint (13 of 21), and 56.3% in the midrange (9 of 16). 

“I told [Bridges] and OG [Anunoby], because I don’t call a ton of play-calls, you guys got to find different ways to impose your will on the game,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said on Saturday. “They’re both doing a phenomenal job of imposing their will on the game.”

That’s a great way to put it in the context of this Knicks team overall. Everything is flowing right now. The whole team is in an unbelievable rhythm, and when that’s happening, you don’t have to call a lot of plays. The ball just moves, guys attack, draw help, kick, swing, nobody is standing still, and Bridges is in the thick of it all. Look at his impact before and after that Game 6 breakout against the Hawks — from a minus-11 player to a plus-144. 

Oh by the way, he’s playing incredible defense, too. 

This is while being matched up against the likes of Tyrese Maxey, James Harden and Jalen Johnson. None of these guys have fared well against Bridges, who was an elite defender in Phoenix but has, or had, declined on that end as he became more offensive-minded. This looks like the best of both Bridges, the two-way guy who was deemed important enough to this multi-year Knicks championship push that they traded those five picks for him. That trade has been clowned as maybe the biggest overpay in recent history. Right now, it’s looking like they might have actually gotten a bargain.