ATLANTA — Mike Brown began the game the same way, keeping his starting unit intact.
But notably, he also ended the game the same way to continue the growing concern around Mikal Bridges.
After acknowledging ahead of Game 4 that the Knicks were considering shaking up the starting unit, Brown stuck with his guns and kept Bridges in the starting lineup.
Bridges recorded eight points in 19 minutes in the Knicks’ 114-98 win over the Hawks on Saturday night at State Farm Arena to even the series at 2-2.
“We’ve won a lot of games with the starting group,” Brown said. “I didn’t want to panic and just change anything. Obviously, we changed some stuff strategy-wise, but I didn’t want to change anything with the starting group because I didn’t feel a need to.”
If those 19 minutes seem odd for a starter, there is a reason for that. After Bridges checked out with 7:34 left in the third quarter, he was benched the rest of the way. Miles McBride was on the floor in his place.
It mirrored the end of the Knicks’ Game 3 loss, when Bridges was benched — similarly for McBride — for the vast majority of the second half.
“At the end of the day, I just felt that [McBride] had it rolling,” Brown said. “They were gonna double Jalen [Brunson]. When they did, [McBride] hit some big 3s. So if a guy has it rolling, he may have a chance to stay out on the floor, that’s all it was.”
To begin the playoffs, it seemed like Jose Alvarado was out of the playoff rotation. But he’s crept back in — and is making an impact.
He recorded six points in 14 minutes Saturday.
He also brought a bit of his trademark snarl — soon after checking in for the first time at the end of the first quarter, he got into a bit of a dustup with Mouhamed Gueye and forced Gueye into a technical foul.
His rise has come at the expense of Landry Shamet, whose struggles at the end of the regular season bled into the beginning of the playoffs.
Shamet, who only played in garbage time Saturday, seems to now be out of the rotation.
“He was huge,” Brown said of Alvarado. “He hit two big 3s. He was a guy that they were gonna leave open. He works very hard on his 3-point shooting. He took the right shots tonight. And then defensively, he tried to be a pest. What he did out on the floor for us gave us a huge lift, especially when Jalen was out.”
Brunson surpassed John Starks for the fourth-most total points in the playoffs in franchise history.
