Mikal Bridges erupts for 31 points as Knicks rout depleted Pelicans
Knicks forward Mikal Bridges gestures after scoring a three-point basket against the New Orleans Pelicans in the first half of an NBA game at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
For the second straight game, Mikal Bridges spent most of the fourth quarter on the bench.
This time, however, the fact that he was not on the floor was not an indication of poor play on his part.
Instead, Bridges left the court three minutes into the final period after scoring a season-high 31 points to lead the Knicks to a 118-85 win over the injury-decimated New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
“It was just my teammates and coaches picking me up and telling me to stay confident,” said Bridges, who shot 12-for-19 overall and 7-for-12 from three-point range. “My teammates just found me.”
Bridges scored 19 points in the first half and helped set the tone early with his defense. Jalen Brunson, who had 16 points and nine assists, said the big game from Bridges was “much needed.”
“The way he was playing, he was confident and it was flowing. I love to see it,” Brunson said. “I was just reading the defense. When you leave someone open, the ball is bound to go in at some point. And once one goes in for him, the floodgates open. I’ve seen it before and I’m not too worried about him.”
Karl-Anthony Towns grabbed 19 rebounds and scored 14 points for the Knicks (12-8), who have won seven of their last nine games. They took a 32-point lead at 57-25 late in the second quarter and went ahead by as many as 41 at 103-62 and 114-73.
The loss was the eighth straight for the Pelicans (4-17), who scored only 28 points in the first half. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that was the lowest total by a Knicks opponent in a first half since Golden State scored 25 on Nov. 20, 2001.
CJ McCollum and Brandon Boston Jr. had 13 points apiece for the Pelicans, who shot 2-for-20 from three-point range in the first half and finished 4-for-27.
New Orleans was playing without Jose Alvarado, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, Jordan Hawkins and Herb Jones, five of its top eight players. The Knicks, however, showed on their recent road trip that they are capable of playing poorly against teams missing their top players.
On Wednesday, Dallas rolled past the Knicks, 129-114, despite the absence of Luka Doncic, who was out with a wrist injury. On Friday, the Knicks needed 31 points from Brunson, including two free throws with 8.6 seconds left, in order to get past a Charlotte team playing without three of its starters, including LaMelo Ball.
Bridges was benched for most of that fourth quarter in favor of Deuce McBride. He entered Sunday’s game averaging 15.5 points, more than four points less than he did last season. He also was shooting a career-low 30.6% from beyond the arc.
Bridges’ shooting struggles have been increasingly blamed for the Knicks’ less-than-dominant start this season. When he didn’t play during crunch time in Charlotte, several of his teammates spoke out to support him, saying it is only natural for him to need some time to adjust to a new role in which he no longer is the top scoring option, as he had been with the Nets.
Josh Hart clearly was happy to see Bridges have a big game.
“We knew he had the confidence and our job was to continue to find him when he was open, and today he was great for us on both ends of the ball,’’ Hart said. “He had great energy at the point of attack and as a defender. And made his shots.
“That’s our guy. We trust him. We trust him to shoot the shots. Mid-ranges, turnarounds. We want him to be aggressive. That’s the Mikal we know.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
