That’s one way to bury the lede.
If you need a refresher, here’s a timeline of what went down for the New York Knicks yesterday:
3:48 p.m. ET
Starting shooting guard Mikal Bridges says that he has talked to Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau about potentially playing the starters fewer minutes, via a report from the New York Post:
“Sometimes it’s not fun on the body,” Bridges said. “But you want that as a coach, and also talked to him a little bit knowing that we’ve got a good enough team where our bench guys can come in and we don’t need to play 48 [minutes], 47.”
8:37 a.m. ET
Tom Thibodeau disputes Bridges’ claim to the media, saying that the two never discussed such a thing, before defending his rotations:
“Well, one, we never had a conversation about it. The facts are the facts … Your wings play more. They’re matched up against primary players.”
12:55 a.m. ET
With the Knicks down two points to the Portland Trail Blazers and 3.4 seconds left on the clock in overtime, Tom Thibodeau puts the ball into the hands of Mikal Bridges, who promptly knocks down the game-winning three as time expires.
Game over.
Storybook stuff.
Final: NYK 114, POR 113
Bridges finished as the game’s leading scorer with 33 points in 41 minutes, shooting 13-21 FG and 2-4 3PT while adding four rebounds and four assists apiece.
“I feel great,” Bridges said in response to a question about how he feels after playing 40+ minutes.
Without the win, this game would have generated much different headlines for more than just the pregame comments.
Just prior to (and what prompted the need for) Bridges’ heroics at the buzzer, Josh Hart committed a lane violation while inbounding the ball with 7.3 seconds left on the clock. The Knicks were up 111-110 with an opportunity to run out the clock and play the free throw game, and instead just gave the Blazers possession of the ball for free.
Mike Breen said in the moment that he had rarely, if ever, seen a player get called for such a thing.
Portland gave the ball to Deni Avdija, who, after first being blocked by Mitchell Robinson, finished what would have been a game-winning and-one layup to put the Trail Blazers back up two in the final seconds. Avdija stuffed the statsheet, putting up 27 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 assists as he tried to will his team to a victory.
But of course, we all know what happened next.
Let’s play it again, but this time from Portland’s broadcast.
It just doesn’t get old.
As if the tale couldn’t sound any taller—via Jonathan Macri—last night’s matchup featured 42 lead changes, the second-most lead changes out of any game since the NBA started tracking play-by-play data.
The only game to have more also ended on a game-winner by Mikal Bridges and had the same final score, 114-113.
Portland’s Scoot Henderson was the game’s second-highest scoring player, putting up 30 points on 10-16 FG, 4-4 3PT, and 6-10 FT in 37 minutes.
For New York, OG Anunoby finished with 23 points on 8-20 FG, 3-8 3PT, and 4-6 FT. He rounded out his statline with 7 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal, and a block in 43 minutes.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points on 8-12 FG, 2-4 3PT, and 3-4 FT to go along with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block over 38 minutes in the outing. His two threes came back-to-back and put the Knicks up six points down the stretch in regulation.
