Mikal Bridges had 14 points, three rebounds, and three assists against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night. His defense, especially on Brandon Ingram, though, was the highlight of the game for the New York Knicks. Bridges recorded two steals and two blocks on top of his offensive contributions, giving him more games this season with two of each than any other player in the NBA.
Mike Brown is getting the most out of Mikal Bridges
Bridges' performance against the Raptors was his seventh of the season with at least two steals and two blocks, per SNY's Ian Begley. The 29-year-old wing has looked like the best version of himself under new head coach Mike Brown on both ends of the court.
Bridges earned his defensive stripes in the league with his persistent defense against opposing lead guards like Chris Paul and Damian Lillard. Especially during his time with the Phoenix Suns, Bridges was his team's first line of literal defense and was often given the "point of attack" assignment. In his first year with the Knicks, the wing spent plenty of time chasing ball handlers and shooters around the court. In the 37 minutes he played per game, he also had a 19% usage rate on offense.
This season, Brown is continuing to give Bridges "point of attack" assignments but has allowed for more flexibility within that framework. Bridges will often find himself in a 'free safety' style role when appropriate, relieving him from constantly hounding the ball. Deuce McBride, who recently entered the starting lineup amid injuries to several wings, has taken on some of these duties himself.
'Less has been more' for Bridges this year
Bridges also has a moderately lower usage rate on offense despite averaging similar counting statistics. The Villanova product is scoring 1.5 fewer points per game than last year thus far, but is tallying 0.7 more assists and doing it all while shooting 6.2% better on 3-pointers.
The versatile wing doesn't need to be a superstar, an Olympian, or a miracle-worker to make the Knicks look smart for trading five first-round picks for him in June 2024. Winning solves everything. If Bridges keeps this up, he'll be pulling his weight in the team's efforts to do just that. His attitude towards his lockdown performance indicates he'll be striving to do even better.
"Fouled him a lot, [he] scored a couple buckets on me. I don't think it was the best defense, but..." Bridges told reporters after the game before being interrupted by McBride, who made sure to say that he thought his elder teammate "did great."