When the Knicks traded half a dozen first-round picks to acquire Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets, it left many screaming it was an overpay. From the Knicks' perspective, he was the last piece to the puzzle. He was their key point of attack defender that could form an elite wing combo alongside OG Anunoby. The problem was, he is not an elite point of attack defender, and the Eastern Conference Finals has only reinforced that.
To be fair to Bridges, he is a good defender. Just not in the way the Knicks have asked him to be. The Knicks acquired Bridges for exactly a series such as this. A series where the opposing team has a smaller, quicker guard and run lots of actions to try to get him open.
The Knicks envisioned Bridges being able to stay glued to a player like Haliburton, fighting over screens and protecting their weaker links on defense, while Anunoby wreaked havoc off-ball. In theory, it is a match made in heaven. In reality, it has been disastrous for the Knicks.
In the Knicks' second-round series against the Boston Celtics, Bridges had multiple game-saving defensive stops. He is a very good defender, particularly off the ball. He is not this world-class on-ball point of attack defender that the Knicks need him to be.
Now, with their playoff hopes hanging by a thread, the Knicks will need to try other options to slow down Haliburton. Perhaps putting Anunoby on him for Game 5, or making another starting lineup change, and letting Deuce McBride chase him around.
Haliburton has feasted on Bridges
Over the span of four games, Bridges has matched up on Haliburton 164 times and is allowing 31.7 points per 100 possessions. It is not as simple as Bridges getting beat one-on-one. In fact, Haliburton has only isolated five times across four games against Bridges. In those five isolations, the Pacers only scored 0.5 points per direct, according to league tracking data.
What is happening is the Pacers are setting multiple screens for Haliburton to switch him onto the Knicks' weaker defenders. Bridges' greatest flaw is his inability to fight through screens. In fact, he is among the worst at fighting through screens in the entire league. Against Boston, switching everything on the perimeter worked. Boston got "iso happy" and chucked up a bunch of bad shots. That hasn't happened with the Pacers, and Bridges' inability to stick with Haliburton has sunk the Knicks.
Not all on Bridges
It is also unfair to put this entirely on Bridges. He isn't good at what he is being asked to do, but is continuously being put in the position to fail. Some percentage of the blame has to fall on Tom Thibodeau and the Knicks coaching staff for not making adjustments.
McBride is fantastic at navigating through screens, it is one of his most underrated skills. At some point, it is malpractice by the Knicks to keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result, which is exactly what they have done.