Mikal Bridges Talks Knicks’ Struggles

Mikal Bridges didn’t hold back in his recent comments. The issues on the court were pretty glaring, repeated cues that something wasn’t right. It raises an interesting question: why do the starters seem to falter when they’re all on the floor at once?

“Maybe,” Bridges suggested, “we’re a little too soft with half-starts,” following a 114-109 loss to the Pacers at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.

That game kind of played out like many others this postseason. For anyone keeping track, it was predictably frustrating.

The Knicks’ starters stumbled again, falling behind 19-11 early. But then Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride entered and shifted the momentum entirely. They ignited a 15-5 run, flipping an 8-point deficit into a two-point lead by the end of the first quarter.

However, as the third quarter started, coach Tom Thibodeau trotted out Jalen Brunson, Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, and Karl-Anthony Towns, and things took a downturn. They led by three at halftime but soon saw a six-point swing once Robinson returned at 4:18 into the quarter.

This postseason, the Knicks’ starters are a collective minus-81 when playing together. In this series alone, they are at minus-29, a number that reflects their struggles in the fourth quarter of Game 1.

“Collectively, we have to put it together,” Brunson acknowledged. Throughout the regular season, Thibodeau often referred to the team as “no start center” in context with Robinson. Initially, the plan seemed to involve both Towns and Robinson starting, with Hart coming off the bench.

Knicks’ Postseason Journey

Yet Thibodeau has been reluctant to shake up the starting lineup. “We’re always looking at everything,” he said candidly after the game. On Friday, he relied heavily on Robinson and McBride. Robinson entered the game with 5:19 left in the first and stayed in until 1:42 remained in the second quarter. McBride got in at 4:42 in the first and played the entire second quarter.

During that stretch, they turned the early deficit into a halftime lead, with Robinson finishing plus-13 and McBride at plus-9. In stark contrast, three of the five starters—Bridges, Towns, and Hart—ended up with negative stats.

“We think he played 30 minutes—we need to figure out whether he can play more,” Hart said of Robinson. “We’re all in this together and willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the team.”

While Hart’s sentiments about Robinson are understandable, if the starting unit can’t find a rhythm, that’s a significant concern moving forward.