The New York Knicks did not get Mikal Bridges' best game of the season on Monday night. Although they beat the New Orleans Pelicans 130-125, Bridges finished with just six points on the night. While his 3-of-5 shooting performance was efficient, it was not necessarily effective from a scoring perspective.
What fans may not have noticed throughout the game, however, was that his biggest improvement from the 2025-26 season thus far – his playmaking and passing – was on display the whole time. Bridges finished with ten assists and just one turnover, playing a key part in the win.
Bridges' silent night didn't come without gifts
Although Bridges did not have a big night as an offensive player, he made several other kinds of contributions across the board that helped the Knicks pull through with a win on Monday night. His defensive presence is always welcome on the court for Brown's Knicks. The coach has empowered Bridges from day one of them working together, going all the way back to conversations courtside at Summer League.
This season, Bridges is on pace for a career-high average amount of assists recorded per game – again. His mark last year of 3.7 assists per game was the highest he had put on the stat sheet to that point, but also came in a season that saw Bridges average the fourth-most minutes per game in the league.
Under Brown's coaching, Bridges has played almost two minutes per game fewer thus far this season than he did last year. He's averaging 4.4 assists per game through the first 33 contests of New York's season. It's no surprise that Bridges hasn't missed one of those games, with his games-played streak being the league's longest active one.
The lanky wing has played every single game of his career, including the 2022-23 season when he was traded from the Suns to the Nets in the blockbuster Kevin Durant deal. He played 83 games that year because of the midseason switch.
It's great for the Knicks that Bridges seems so driven to play every single game. The impact he brings in those games, however, is what will ultimately matter most. Brown's offense encourages players to move the ball to open teammates, push the pace, pressure the rim, and take good shots in general.
Bridges has excelled playing within the flow of that offense. He's on track for the best offensive estimated plus-minus of his career, an advanced analytic utilized by several NBA front offices. His willingness to keep the ball moving in search of better shots is not something that he just recently developed under Brown, but it does seem to be an aspect of his game that his new coach is strengthening even more.