For the second straight game, Mikal Bridges struggled from the field.
Now, his problems were compounded defensively as Thunder star and MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 39 points in Friday's 126-101 loss to the Knicks.
Bridges was 0-of-9 from the field, including seven 3-pointers, in 32 minutes and was just 4-of-27 in the past two games.
After igniting the season with a strong stretch after a slow start, he hit a new obstacle in addition to being tasked with containing Gilgeous-Alexander as one of the Knicks' defenders.
And this low point ended in Bridges' first game since April 13, 2021, in which he failed to make a field goal while playing at least six minutes.
“We just have to make it,” Bridges said. “I think I've probably just been lacking a lot of those in the last few games. I probably need to get a little more lift.”
With both teams struggling to score, Bridges missed one 3-pointer early in the game and added another missed shot late in the first half.
But Gilgeous-Alexander was outstanding throughout with an early dunk, a quick layup to beat the buzzer at the end of the first quarter, and a tough baseline jumper while covered by Knicks defenders, while also causing a turnover on Jalen Brunson. He forced the team to break through from behind. -Back pass during subsequent possession.
“He's crafty,” Bridges said of Gilgeous-Alexander. “Really crafty. Really crafty, that's all we can say about him. Like, he just circles around you and it's tough.”
The Knicks finally have access to their entire rotation in 2025.
Miles McBride, who had missed the past five games with a hamstring injury, played after being listed as vulnerable for the night.
Karl Anthony Towns (Knee) He also played after being listed as questionable before warmups.
McBride was injured before the Knicks' game against the Jazz on Jan. 1, ruining the young guard's chances of starting, and Brunson also missed that game with a calf strain.
But even after the Knicks' win, McBride's injury persisted, and the former second-round pick, who signed a three-year, $13 million extension last year, will miss the next four games after the calendar changed. . Until January.
And the team is overcoming depth issues, with Cameron Payne and Landry Shamet seeing limited minutes off the bench and Tom Thibodeau perennial. When debate resumed, the Knicks needed McBride.
Before the injury, he was averaging 9.8 points, 3.0 assists, and 2.6 rebounds in 24.5 minutes, the most minutes of his career.
Isaiah Hartenstein He had six points, nine rebounds, six assists, two blocks and two steals in his first game back at the Garden since signing an $87 million contract with OKC in free agency.
The Knicks played a video tribute to him during the first timeout, and received plenty of cheers from fans during the pregame introductions and after the video.
