Was it a one-game anomaly?
Or the start of a turnaround?
Based on Monday night, it could be the latter.
Bridges was at his best in the opening-round, series-clinching rout of the Hawks, the kind of performance the Knicks would like to see more from the two-way wing, and he built on it in the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Bridges attacked, was decisive and was typically strong on the defensive end, helping the Knicks to another blowout victory, a 137-98 mauling of the 76ers in Game 1 of this best-of-seven series.
He had 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting along with five assists and a plus-19 rating in 27 minutes.
He also kept 76ers star Tyrese Maxey under wraps.
“It’s very important. He’s a huge factor for us,” Jalen Brunson said of Bridges. “He’s been playing great.”
It was a down regular season for Bridges.
He attempted his fewest field goals (11.7) since the 2021-22 season, and he averaged only 14.4 points, well down from the 17.6 he tallied in his first season as a Knick.
He struggled over the first five games of the Hawks series before his 24-point, five-rebound, three-assist breakout in Game 6.
There was talk of bringing him off the bench at one point in the series, although coach Mike Brown stuck with the 29-year-old Bridges.
“He’s been our starting two-guard all year, and he’s had a really good season, so for me it was easy,” Brown said.
Bridges’ best is needed against the 76ers.
In Game 1, he spent a lot of time guarding Maxey, Philadelphia’s budding star.
Maxey averaged 26.9 points, 6.6 assists, 4.9 rebounds and shot 41.8 percent from 3-point range in Philadelphia’s opening-round victory over the Celtics.
During the regular season, Maxey had success against the Knicks as well, producing 30 points and 5.3 assists in four contests.
But that player was missing in the series opener, held to 13 points on 3-for-9 shooting along with four turnovers.
Bridges had a lot to do with that.
“He didn’t shut Maxey down. Maxey missed some shots, and our team defense behind him was pretty good,” Brown said. “But the one thing that I give Mikal a lot of credit for is his alertness and his ability to have multiple efforts when guarding Maxey because Maxey is similar to [Stephen Curry], where he’s constantly moving, especially when it comes to the two-man game with [Joel] Embiid.
“You can’t ever relax. And Mikal did as good as he could, trying to stay with him whether he was moving or when he gave up the basketball.”
