The Knicks did what they were supposed to do — get past the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs. In that sense, Thursday’s rout of the Hawks in Game 6 at State Farm Arena to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals shouldn’t be all that impressive.
However, after falling behind 2-1 in the series and things looking a little scary, New York stormed back to win three straight, all by double-digit margins, with Thursday’s victory being the most memorable (and lopsided).
Advertisement
Leading 40-15 after the first quarter and 83-36 at halftime — the largest halftime lead in NBA playoff history — the Knicks got contributions up and down the roster. One of those contributors was Mikal Bridges, who finally broke out of an offensive slump and finished with 24 points, five rebounds, three assists and a block in 27 minutes.
It was the most points Bridges scored during the series. He entered the game averaging 7.2 points per game in the series after averaging 14.4 points per game in the regular season, which was already his lowest scoring output since 2021-22.
In fact, his 12 shot attempts in Game 6 were just one less than his previous three games combined.
“Just doing whatever it takes to win,” he said. “That’s pretty much it. Just go do it for those guys.”
Advertisement
The re-emergence of Bridges gives the Knicks another weapon offensively and is a good sign that he’s once again being aggressive, but still efficient, with his shots. He went 10-for-12 on Thursday, including 2-for-2 from deep.
Head coach Mike Brown was ecstatic seeing Bridges return to the kind of player that he can be and praised him not only for his offense, but his defense as well, which has always been a strength of his.
“It was great. He just did what he’s capable of doing,” Brown said. “Is he gonna go 10-for-12 every night? No, but he was aggressive. He took great shots.
“I wouldn’t let it go unnoticed that his defense was phenomenal. Not only was his defense phenomenal, but rebounding. A guy like Mikal should average 5-7 rebounds a game at his size if he’s playing 30-plus minutes. He had five, so it was a big night on both ends of the floor by Mikal.”
Advertisement
While Bridges only averaged 3.8 rebounds per game during the regular season, on par with his career average, it shrunk to 1.4 rebounds per game in the first five games of this series as he struggled to get anything going to help the team.
That’s what makes his performance on Thursday so inspiring; not only did Bridges get things back on track, but it led to a huge win and a preview of what the Knicks can look like at full strength.
Still, even during the rough times, Bridges believed things would turn around and says he didn’t let it affect his confidence.
“Feel like I’m always confident. Just happy to go out there and get a win,” he said.
Advertisement
With that win, New York will now face either the Boston Celtics or Philadelphia 76ers, who are headed to a Game 7 in their own series, in the second round of the playoffs. No matter who the Knicks face, they’ll need Bridges to be as aggressive as he was on Thursday to give them another option on offense.
With Bridges and OG Anunoby, who had 29 points on Thursday, real threats to score consistently, that completely opens up what New York is able to do offensively and could lead to a few more games that look like Game 6.
