When the New York Knicks gave up
five first-round picks to acquire Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn
Nets, the move was met with shock, skepticism, and scrutiny. Five
first-round picks. For a player whose offensive role had
diminished, whose stats were down, and whose place in a new system
seemed more complementary than central.
It was one of the most bizarre
returns for a player in recent NBA history, which is borderline
unprecedented. Bridges was no superstar scorer, nor a perennial
All-NBA selection. He had gone from being Brooklyn’s first option
to, arguably, New York’s fourth. Questions swirled: Was this a
reach and an overpay?
But New York seemingly knew what
they were doing. They were reuniting Bridges with former college
teammates at Villanova, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart. All three won
an NCAA national championship playing together, and the Knicks were
hoping this could translate into a good winning culture in the NBA
and eventually a title.
Then, as the Knicks stunned the
defending champion Boston Celtics in back-to-back games to start
their 2025 Eastern Conference Semifinal series, those questions
disappeared. Because Mikal Bridges answered every single one of
them.
People often forget that the
Knicks didn’t bring in Bridges to average 25 points a game. They
brought him in to defend the NBA’s biggest, strongest wings. They
brought him in for this very moment.
The Celtics, with Jayson Tatum
and Jaylen Brown leading the charge on the way to their title last
season, are the blueprint every other contender is trying to crack.
Long, physical wings who can score from anywhere, who can switch
everything, and who have been to the NBA Finals twice in the past
three seasons. To compete with them, you don’t just need offense.
You need answers.
New York’s answer? Stack the
deck with perimeter stoppers. Bridges. OG Anunoby. Josh Hart.
Two-way warriors with toughness and length. And in a matchup where
margins are razor-thin, where late-game execution determines the
outcome, the Knicks’ investment has already paid
dividends.
With the game tied in overtime
and the final seconds ticking down, the Celtics had the ball in
Jaylen Brown’s hands. But as Brown caught the ball on the left
wing, Bridges was there to read the play and anticipate the
move.
He ripped the ball from Brown’s
hands in one swift motion, wrestled it away as Brown scrambled to
recover, and held on as the buzzer sounded. Ball game in Game 1,
Knicks steal Game 1 in the Boston Garden.
Bridges didn’t just make a great
play – he made the play. The one that changes the conversation, and
the one that likely swings a series.
Two nights later, the stakes
rose again. Boston had a huge 20-point lead late in the third
quarter, and New York was running on fumes. That’s when Bridges
flipped the switch, not just defensively, but offensively
too.
He scored all 14 of his points
in the fourth quarter alone, rallying the Knicks back into the
game. It was the highest-scoring playoff quarter of his career. The
energy inside the Boston Garden shifted, as if life were sucked out
of the arena.
And with the Knicks clinging to
a slim lead and seconds left, Jayson Tatum had the ball on the left
wing. As he tried to make his move toward the baseline, he found
himself trapped, smothered by both Bridges and Anunoby. There was
nowhere to go.
Tatum tried to make the right
play and pass out of the double. But Bridges read it. He stuck out
his arm, deflected the ball, and threw the ball to the backcourt to
a streaking Jalen Brunson, and it sealed the victory. Game over,
Knicks 2, Celtics 0. The seemingly invincible defending champion
Celtics looked every bit of human that they could be, dropping two
straight at home on both comeback occasions.
Bridges’ role and the Knicks’ vision
Bridges’ offensive dip since
arriving in New York has been noticeable. He’s no longer the guy
who averaged 26.1 points per game in Brooklyn post-KD and Kyrie.
With Jalen Brunson scoring and orchestrating, Karl-Anthony Towns
spacing, and OG Anunoby slashing, Bridges has often been the third
option, sometimes fourth.
But that’s not the full picture.
Basketball is bigger than the box score. And Bridges, even in a
quieter offensive role, is impacting winning at the highest
level.
The Knicks gambled on a vision:
a roster designed to slow down elite wing scorers in high-stakes
games. And with just two playoff games against Boston, that vision
has materialized.
They didn’t need Bridges to
carry the offense. They needed him to carry the moment, to guard
the other team’s best guy, and to make the winning play. And he
did.
Bridges didn’t ask to be traded.
He didn’t lobby for five first-round picks to be attached to his
name. But he embraced the responsibility. He leaned into the
expectations. And now, he’s delivering on the biggest stage against
the defending champions. He’s defending like a star and playing
like a closer, all while doing it without the spotlight demanding
he score 30.
There’s something poetic about a
player making his greatest impact on the defensive end in a league
that so often celebrates offense. In a series where Boston’s stars
were expected to take over, Bridges is writing a different script –
one that says defense still wins games, and that the “other guy”
can become the hero.
The job isn’t finished, and
Boston definitely isn’t going away. They’re too good and
battle-tested. But with the Knicks up 2-0, the tone has been set
for the rest of the series.
And if this series is the war
New York built their roster for, then Mikal Bridges is one of their
weapons to go to war with. Game 3 awaits. But you better believe
the Celtics will be seeing No. 25 in their nightmares.
