Steve Popper: Knicks' Mike Brown keeps Mikal Bridges in starting lineup, and this time it works
Knicks' Mikal Bridges drives toward the basket against the Pacers' Aaron Nesmith during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game on Friday in Indianapolis. Credit: AP/Doug McSchooler
Mike Brown kept his word, avoiding any desperate moves 11 games into the season and putting the same starting lineup on the floor on Friday night as the Knicks faced a shorthanded Pacers squad in Indiana.
And that’s, well, good?
Brown kept the faith, resisting any notion of moving Mikal Bridges out of the starting lineup, and he delivered his best performance of the season. But the Knicks’ troubles came in the form of a performance in which the struggling Pacers outhustled, outrebounded and outworked them for a 106-104 win.
Bridges was on the court not just at the start but at the finish. He hit one huge shot late and helped spur a defensive effort that gave the Knicks a chance at the end. But without Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana just seemed to play harder much of the night, bringing that fire even to the postgame greetings. Quenton Jackson, who had been jawing with Jalen Brunson much of the night, had to be separated from Jose Alvarado, who had not even gotten into the game.
One of the things the Knicks have relied on as they attempt to win a second straight NBA title — not to mention a second straight NBA Cup championship, which seems a long shot now as they fell to 0-2 in pool play — is familiarity, returning nearly the entire rotation from last season.
But the Knicks have not yet looked like last season’s team. It’s not so much wins and losses. They had won six of seven before a loss to Cleveland on Wednesday, and now, with two straight losses, they head to Toronto hoping to find their way with a 6-6 record.
Brown has insisted since he took the job that he wouldn’t chase a regular-season win at the cost of the big picture, and that philosophy is what he was sticking to as he resisted making a rash move. The biggest question, as it often has been, was the play of Bridges, who struggled through the first 11 games and saw his minutes drastically cut even as he held on to starting honors, but he responded with 18 points and shot 8-for-12 on Friday.
But it’s not only Bridges. The Knicks haven’t shot well as a team. Other than Karl-Anthony Towns — who etched his name in the franchise record books with 23 points and 15 rebounds for his 12th straight double-double, the longest stretch to start a season in Knicks history — there has been inconsistency.
Towns missed a fadeaway jumper at the final buzzer as he attempted to send the game into overtime. Brunson had 33 points but was 2-for-7 from the floor in the fourth quarter and hasn’t played up to his NBA Finals MVP form, although he certainly has been a huge factor as usual.
OG Anunoby has struggled offensively. Josh Hart missed three games — two with ankle soreness and one with an illness — before returning Wednesday. He went scoreless on Friday, missing all four of his shots, and sat out the fourth quarter.
Brown got a technical foul in the first half and said afterward, “It was out of frustration . . . I do know we’re not going to get any help from the officials. We’re not going to get help from anyone. So we’ve got to go earn it.”
Rotations have remained in flux for the Knicks. Landry Shamet has outplayed Bridges and at times, Deuce McBride has, too, although both of them struggled offensively Friday. Tyler Kolek has claimed backup point guard minutes ahead of Alvarado.
The thing is, nothing is permanent. Brown expressed no desire to make a change now, but there are no assurances that it won’t come at some point.
Bridges has shrugged off the talk, and on Friday morning he told reporters, “I just look in the mirror. I just got to be better. Nobody else to blame but me, and I just got to go out there and, whatever it is, just be better and go harder.”
Bridges scored a pair of quick baskets early Friday night, including one in which he ran the floor and took a feed from Brunson for a layup. That supported what Brown had said last week when he noted that Bridges is as good a runner as there is in the league and that he needs to take advantage of that skill when other things aren’t working, such as the 26.5% three-point shooting he brought into Friday night.
“You’re playing well one day and next time you get punched in the mouth,” McBride said. “So it’s always about how you respond in this league.”
The Knicks have talked about taking that punch this season. Maybe it’s not the worst thing, seeing how they get back up when they’re knocked down. The NBA Cup likely is out of reach now, but like last year, that’s just a goal along the way to the title the Knicks are really in search of — and that one is still alive with a long way to go.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
