Mikal Bridges is the NBA’s iron man, however within the closing seconds of Monday’s Sport 1 win, the Knicks ahead embodied an NFL ballhawk.
With 3.0 seconds left in extra time and the Knicks main by three factors, Bostons Celtics guard Derrick White heaved a cross-court inbound move towards Jaylen Brown.
Brown had arrange within the TD Backyard backcourt and acquired a working begin as White’s move met him simply outdoors the 3-point arc.
However Bridges learn it.
Bridges adopted Brown to his spot, then caught his arms in as Brown was making an attempt to assemble the vast move. Bridges ripped the ball away and heaved it down the courtroom as time expired, clinching the Knicks’ 108-105 win.
“I was just watching his eyes,” Bridges stated afterward. “I’m a football guy, so I’m just watching his eyes and following where the ball’s at and trying to get my hands [ready] as soon as I see the ball.”
The sport-ending steal capped one other clutch efficiency by Bridges, whose relentless protection and late shot-making helped the Knicks erase a 20-point deficit and go up 1-0 over the closely favored Celtics.
It was the type of efficiency the Knicks envisioned final summer time once they traded 5 first-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets to amass Bridges.
“Mikal came up with some big-time rebounds in traffic, and then the steal at the end,” head coach Tom Thibodeau stated. “Whatever we have to do to find a way to win. That’s the most important thing.”
Bridges had three factors, two steals and a block in extra time.
The primary steal got here with 3:29 left in OT and the rating tied 100-100. Brown tried to bounce a move to Al Horford within the nook, however Bridges acquired a hand on the ball, reached for it with one foot in bounds and accomplished an acrobatic move to Josh Hart with out stepping on the road.
That sequence arrange a transition dunk by OG Anunoby, who was fouled and made the free throw for a three-point play. That basket put the Knicks up 103-100 and proved to be the game-winner.
On the Knicks’ subsequent possession, Bridges drilled a 3-pointer from the nook, getting assist from the backboard because the ball glanced off the glass.
“He got big stops,” Anunoby stated of Bridges. “He made big-time shots. He just stayed with it, kept playing hard, and you saw the results.”
Bridges, 28, averaged 17.6 factors per recreation on 50.0% taking pictures in his first season with the Knicks. He appeared in all 82 regular-season video games, extending his NBA-best consecutive video games streak to 556.
However the lofty worth the Knicks paid to get Bridges made him the topic of frequent scrutiny.
That chatter has quieted, nevertheless, as Bridges makes key performs this postseason. Within the Knicks’ 116-113 win over the Detroit Pistons in final spherical’s series-clinching Sport 6, Bridges scored 25 factors on 11-of-16 taking pictures, together with the game-tying tip-in with 35.1 seconds left within the fourth quarter.
On Monday, Bridges completed with solely eight factors on 3-of-13 taking pictures, however he performed a game-high 51 minutes and added seven rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks.
The Knicks invested closely in Bridges and one other defensive stopper in Anunoby to fight a staff just like the Celtics, whose wing combo of Brown and Jayson Tatum is broadly thought of the NBA’s finest.
Brown and Tatum shot a mixed 14-of-43, together with 5-of-25 on 3-point makes an attempt, in Sport 1.
“That’s who Mikal is. He’s got a lot of criticism and he never lets that affect him,” Knicks guard Josh Hart stated after Monday’s win.
“He’s a winning player. He makes winning plays. He should be celebrated for that.”
