Mikal Bridges Gives Knicks Another Shot-Creation Option
mikal bridges is one of the Knicks players Mike Brown was hired to use better, and that matters after Thursday’s one-point Game 3 loss to the Atlanta Hawks showed how thin New York’s offense can look when Jalen Brunson is carrying everything. Brown came in to bring new offensive juice, and Bridges, Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby were named as players who can create their own shot when a defense is rotating.
Brunson’s burden in Game 3
The issue showed up late in Game 3. Brunson ended one final possession with an airball and another with a turnover as the Knicks dropped the first-round game by one point. The possession pattern was familiar: teammates often stood still while he broke down the defense.
That sequence is not built around speed. Brunson likes to hold the ball and probe with head fakes, hesitations, crossovers, shoulder bumps and pivots, and he often decides against a pass when he sees one because he would rather avoid the turnover risk and take the shot himself. In one stretch, he used 40 dribbles before getting to an 11-foot drifting jumper.
Brown’s shot-creating options
Brown’s job is to squeeze more production from a group that already has talent beyond Brunson. The Knicks have three players who can create their own shot against a defense in rotation: Towns, Anunoby and Bridges. That gives New York options when the first action stalls and the ball has to move again.
Bridges fits that group because he is not being asked to stand in the corner and wait for a bailout pass. The point of bringing Brown in was to better use those kinds of players, and Bridges is part of the answer if the Knicks want fewer possessions ending with Brunson forced to solve everything by himself.
Knicks need more than one ballhandler
The larger problem has been there across different coaching regimes: a Brunson-heavy offense that can become predictable when the defense loads up on him. New York has won two consecutive games in the series before Thursday, but the Game 3 finish showed how quickly one late stretch can flip a round.
For the Knicks, the practical next step is simple. Brown has to turn those three shot-creators into real options on the same possessions, not just names on the roster. If Bridges, Towns and Anunoby take some of the load, Brunson does not have to end as many nights trying to manufacture a finish against a set defense.
