“Next man up” is a mantra New York Knicks fans have come to know far too well in recent years. But what if the “next man up” falls down?
Never mind that.
The Knicks have kept the ship afloat despite Jalen Brunson‘s 12-game (and counting) absence. All it cost them was four unprotected first-round picks, a 2025 first (via the Milwaukee Bucks), a 2025 second, and an unprotected pick swap in 2028–otherwise known as the Mikal Bridges package.
The seventh-year wing has indeed stepped up, in a trend that continued in New York’s 110-93 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Bridges finished the night with 28 points, 7 assists, and a block—with 13 of those points coming in the final frame.
Bridges alone isn’t to credit for New York playing above .500 basketball without their best player. Karl-Anthony Towns is leading the team in scoring. OG Anunoby is on a two-way run for the ages.
And Josh Hart is doing, well, what he does best.
But it’s Bridges who’s supplanted the Knicks’ secondary playmaking while keeping his own rhythm as a primary scorer. And that isn’t the thickest tightrope to tiptoe.
Brunson’s flown under the radar as a floor general and playmaker throughout his rise to stardom in New York. He’s averaging a career-high 7.4 assists this year.
Bridges, who too is averaging a career-high in assists this season at 3.6, has taken on a larger share of the playmaking pie in Brunson’s absence. And it’s working.
He’s had 5 or more assists on 7 different nights, including as many as 9 vs. the LA Clippers which matched his career-high.
The pick-and-roll potential of Bridges and Towns, or Bridges and Mitchell Robinson has got to be a takeaway for the coaching staff from this Brunson-less stretch.
Look at this action against the Golden State Warriors.
Filtering the pick-and-roll actions through a barreling Bridges, who’s already a top percentile cutter, gives you so many options in a five-out setting.
It’s more likely that the defense will compromise in favor of blocking a smaller-framed guy. Worst-case scenario: Bridges kicks it out to an open man.
New York is scoring 0.99 points per possession with Bridges as the ball handler in pick-and-rolls. Factor in the 11.8% frequency with which it’s been used all season long, and it’s hard to ignore the room for growth. (For reference, with Brunson as the pick-and-roll ball handler, the Knicks are scoring 1.05 points per possession.)
Bridges flashing his own capability as a ball handler and playmaker will only help New York delay and divert these kinds of actions when Brunson’s back, and they’re matched up against more ironclad defenses in the postseason.
Keeping the ball in Bridges’ hands, at least in some frequency, will hold New York accountable against icing him out in the corners or along the wing. Remember, you need hot hands to make shots, too.
In the 12 games since Brunson went down, Bridges is averaging 22.2 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.6 rebounds nightly. According to NBA.com, only 9 players have recorded that stat line or better over that span.
You should recognize a few of them: Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, James Harden, and so forth.
See where I’m going with this?
Add in Mikal Bridges’ (climbing) 23.2% usage rate and 63.9% true shooting, and you can start to distinguish the inextinguishable self-realization of a two-way star in real time.
