“We've got to play better,” Mikal Bridges admitted after sitting on the bench twice for much of the fourth quarter during a four-game series in late November.
Since the calendar turned to December, the Knicks winger finally seems to be finding his groove, scoring 23 points with a key long-distance bucket late in Monday's tie win at Toronto.
Bridges is scoring 22.4 points per game during the Knicks' 4-1 run heading into Wednesday's NBA Cup quarterfinal game against the Hawks at the Garden.
He also averaged 38.3 points in his first 24 games following an offseason trade from the Nets, and led the NBA in plus-minus (plus-109) for the month and minutes per game for the season. are.
Bridges' recent shooting numbers show a significant improvement from his first 19 games with his new team, shooting just 30.6 percent from 3-point range before the Nov. 29 win at Charlotte.
He sat Tom Thibodeau on the bench for much of the fourth quarter during the same trip six days earlier at Utah State, but sat for the final 10-plus minutes of that game.
In both cases, Bridges said Thibodeau made the “right decision.”
“Go out there and win the game. That's the most important thing, just win the game,” Bridges said after the game against the Hornets. “But, yeah, obviously I've got to play better. I've got to take advantage of the opportunities I've been given and reform my game…I'm going to get better.”
In fact, the 28-year-old winger started by scoring a season-high 31 points against the Pelicans, and then shot 45.2 percent from long range (19 of 42) and 56.4 percent overall by the start of December. Ta.
With the Knicks still in their second year of league in-season tournament play, Bridges heated up at the right time.
If they defeat the Hawks in the knockout stage on Wednesday night, they will face either the Bucks or Magic in the NBA Cup semifinals on Saturday in Las Vegas, with the championship scheduled for next Tuesday.
“Play our style. Play hard,” Bridges said after Monday's win over the Raptors. “We've got to get better in transition. These guys, they're going out there. We've got to get better and communicate with each other and be ready to fight.”
Each Knicks player already earns $51,000 for reaching this stage, but that increases to $103,000 for semifinalists, $206,000 for finalists and $515,000 per player for Cup champions. do.
“I think it has to do with money, so I think he's just very motivated,” Jalen Brunson said after scoring 20 points and dishing out 11 assists against the Raptors.
Brunson, who signed a four-year contract extension worth $156.5 million over the summer, said last week that he wants to continue winning tournaments to help out his lower-paid teammates on either a one-year or two-way deal. It means a lot because we’re going to go out there and try to win for them.”
The Knicks fell to 3-4 after losing to the Hawks in Atlanta in early November, but have won 12 of their past 17 games.
No. 1 overall pick Zachary Lizacher scored a season-high 33 points in the last matchup.
Former playoff foe Trae Young is averaging 20.9 points per game, his lowest level in six years, but led the league with a career-high 12.2 assists against the Hawks, who started 13-12. are.
