Mikal Bridges responded quickly, aggressively and forcefully as the Knicks boat raced the short-handed Pelicans at MSG.
Bridges, who has come under increasing criticism amid early season struggles, dropped 13 of his season-high 31 points in the first quarter of Sunday's 118-85 win over New Orleans. The Knicks held a double-digit lead for the final 43 minutes and won the game. .
Bridges started aggressively and the defense took care of the rest.
The Knicks (12-8), who have won six of their last eight games, held the Pelicans to just 28 points in the first half, more than New York's previous opponent against the Warriors in November 2001, according to Elias. It was the lowest score since then. Sports station.
Without the injured trio of Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Herb Jones, there was no answer for the fearsome Pelicans.
Dejounte Murray was a disaster, shooting just 38 percent overall and an abysmal 14.8 percent on treys, missing 12 of 17 attempts.
It's the second straight game the Knicks have played against a depleted team, and the third straight game the Knicks have been without their best player.
This time, the Knicks won easily.
Two days after Tom Thibodeau benched his guard in the fourth quarter of a close win against Charlotte, Bridges was agile and aggressive.
Bridges made 7 of 12 3-pointers Sunday and 12 of 19 overall from the field, his best performance since being acquired from Brooklyn for five first-round picks.
After Friday's game, teammate Josh Hart assured Bridges that he would recover and said the team's priority was to get Bridges healthy.
Bridges then took seven shots in the first 10 minutes and left the game in extended fourth-quarter garbage time to enthusiastic applause from MSG.
His performance allowed Jalen Brunson (16 points on 11 shots), Karl-Anthony Towns (14 points, 19 boards) and Hurts (12 points, 6 rebounds) to rest easily.
