The New York Knicks are rolling, winning six straight games as the playoffs draw near. Nonetheless, certain members of the orange-and-blue faithful are as frustrated as ever with Mr. Five Firsts himself, Mikal Bridges.

Because of the exorbitant package that was sent out to acquire him, Bridges will always be the Knicks’ most scrutinized player as long as he is on the team, even if it isn’t warranted. It’s not his fault that New York’s front office elected to give up a package that well exceeds Bridges’ on-court ceiling.

Still, there is a certain standard Bridges should be held to. He will never be quite worth five first-round picks on his own, but if he can play up to his individual ceiling, he can do his part to help the Knicks make a championship push.

Recently, Bridges has not been meeting that standard—at least, in certain areas of the game.

While Bridges has undoubtedly struggled in some facets, he is thriving in others, and that is what Knicks fans often overlook when discussing him.

The nuanced way to discuss Mikal Bridges

Offensively, Bridges is having a rough time. No doubt about it.

Over his last 17 games, Bridges is averaging a ghastly 10.6 points per game. That is a far cry from the 15.9 points he averaged over the first 55 games of the season, which in itself was already a noticeable dip from his 17.6 points per game in 2024-25 (although his minutes are way down from the Thibodeau days, to be fair).

Bridges’ offensive slump is due to a combination of both volume and efficiency. His role is certainly a part of it, as he is attempting just 10.4 field goals over his last 17 games, versus 12.6 over his first 55 games.

Worse, though, is the drop in efficiency. Through 55 games, Bridges was shooting tremendously: 50.4% from the field, 38.6% from three, 59.8% from two, and 82.9% from the stripe. His effective field goal percentage was 58.9%.

Over the last 17 games, Bridges is down to 41.5% from the field, 32.4% from three, 47.2% from two, 81.3% from the line, and an effective field goal percentage of 47.7%.

So, yes, Bridges is in the midst of an ugly cold streak that, at this point, has gone on too long. This stretch has extended to comprise about one-fifth of the Knicks’ entire regular season.

That doesn’t mean his entire game has suffered.

In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Defensively, Bridges is thriving.

Bridges is having a marvelous defensive season. According to Databallr, he has improved significantly in every critical defensive metric compared to the 2024-25 season.

The most notable metric there is Bridges’ +2.0 dTS, which estimates a player’s impact on opponent shooting efficiency. It’s the fifth-best mark in the NBA among shooting guards, trailing only Derrick White, Alex Caruso, Christian Braun, and Jrue Holiday.

Bridges’ individual defensive improvements have correlated with the progress of the entire New York squad. Since Jan. 21, the Knicks have the NBA’s best defensive rating. They have risen to the league’s No. 5 slot in defensive rating for the entire season.

Bridges deserves immense credit for his role in New York’s defensive success. That is not to say he is off the hook on the other end of the court, but his defense can be revered while simultaneously critiquing his offense.

Nuance has been lost in modern-day sports discourse. A player should either have a statue built of him or be banished to an alternate dimension. Those are your choices in a Stephen A. Smith-pilled world.

In 99% of cases, the conversation needs to be more complex than that if anything meaningful is to be gleaned. And while it is certainly more complex in this case, it isn’t really “complex” at all. It simply requires splitting Bridges’ performance into two parts instead of slapping a black-or-white label on his entire game.

Bridges’ offense has been awful recently. But his defense has been outstanding all season.

That’s all that needs to be said.