Mikal Bridges wanted no introduction to Jalen Brunson or Josh Hart.
Bridges and Brunson performed all three of their school seasons collectively at Villanova, and Hart was their teammate for 2 of them.
That trio helped lead the Wildcats to a nationwide championship in 2016. Brunson and Bridges received a second NCAA title in 2018.
However that familiarity didn’t preclude Bridges from needing an adjustment interval with the Knicks, at the same time as he reunited with Brunson and Hart.
“It’s always a transition period,” Brunson mentioned Wednesday, hours earlier than Sport 2 of the Knicks’ second-round playoff collection in opposition to the Boston Celtics.
“In the world we live in now — not even just basketball, but the world — you want everything now. Everything is accessible as soon as possible, so when you come to a new team or when you join something new, they want results right away. It takes time for things to develop and things to gel.”
The Knicks traded 5 first-round picks to the Nets to accumulate Bridges final offseason.
Bridges averaged 17.6 factors per sport on 50% capturing in his first season with the Knicks, showing in all 82 video games to increase his NBA-best consecutive video games streak to 556.
However the Knicks used Bridges otherwise. They repeatedly requested the lanky ahead to defend the purpose of assault. He averaged 1.4 fewer shot makes an attempt per sport in comparison with final season. He completed fourth on the Knicks in scoring behind Brunson, Karl-Anthony Cities and OG Anunoby.
Bridges was typically the topic of scrutiny, with critics pointing to the lofty worth the Knicks paid to get him.
“It’s all about the process and the journey of it all,” Brunson mentioned. “Just making sure we’re going through things together.”
Bridges resides as much as the Knicks’ imaginative and prescient this postseason.
He scored 25 factors, together with a game-tying tip-in late within the fourth quarter, within the Knicks’ series-clinching Sport 6 win over the Detroit Pistons within the first spherical.
Then within the Knicks’ 108-105 win over the Boston Celtics in Sport 1, Bridges made a clutch 3-pointer and recorded two key steals in extra time — together with one in opposition to Jaylen Brown that ended the sport.
“It’s a team game, man,” Bridges mentioned after Sport 1. “That’s all it is. We don’t care who takes the credit as long as we win.”
CAPTAIN’S COMMS
For Brunson, communication is essential.
Not solely on the courtroom, however with Knicks decision-makers akin to head coach Tom Thibodeau, crew president Leon Rose and proprietor James Dolan.
“I think we all have one goal,” Brunson mentioned Wednesday. “I think we all have an understanding of what we want to accomplish, and I feel like we’re able to talk about stuff.”
The Knicks have received at the least 47 video games, completed no worse than the No. 5 seed within the East and superior to the second spherical of the playoffs in every of Brunson’s three seasons with the crew.
Final summer time, the Knicks signed Brunson to a four-year, $156.5 million contract extension and named him the thirty sixth captain — and first since 2019 — in crew historical past.
“I’m not saying I’m in the room making decisions or helping make decisions, but when questions are asked of me, I give my opinion,” Brunson mentioned. “I say what I feel is best for the team.”
KAT’S EYE
The Knicks’ acquisition of Cities final October marked a reunion between the All-Star middle and Thibodeau, who was beforehand his head coach for components of three seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Cities can see a distinction with Thibodeau now.
“For me, being with him before, I think that he was so caught up in the work that he wasn’t getting a chance to take a step back and appreciate where he’s at,” Cities mentioned of Thibodeau’s time in Minnesota.
“We all grow, and time teaches us a lot. I’m happy to see him enjoying the moments he has coaching.”
