Steve Popper: Knicks' Mikal Bridges production in offense has dipped since All-Star break
The Knicks' Mikal Bridges in action against the Heat on Oct. 26, 2025 in Miami, Fla. Credit: Getty Images/Carmen Mandato
SALT LAKE CITY — The focus of the NBA Tuesday night was on Bam Adebayo’s 83-point night, chasing a scoring record and getting closer than anyone in NBA history to the seemingly unreachable 100-point mark set by Wilt Chamberlain. But as Mikal Bridges spoke after the Knicks morning shootaround the topic was far from that talk.
Bridges was 83 points shy of that performance by Adebayo Sunday when he went scoreless against the Lakers, shooting 0-for-6, just the second time he’d gone scoreless since joining the Knicks (other than a six-second appearance at the end of last season to preserve his consecutive game streak).
And it hasn’t been a one-game occurrence. Since the All-Star break Bridges is averaging 11.4 points per game, a significant drop from the 15.9 he was averaging before the break. His usage rate has actually increased slightly, but his shooting efficiency has dropped. He is shooting 43.2% overall and 34.1% from three after putting up 50.4% overall and 38.6% beyond the arc in the first 55 games.
“I think just it’s the game of basketball,” Bridges said. “Sometimes you try to get open and sometimes it doesn’t find me. Just try to find ways to stay aggressive. That’s it.”
“It’s part of the game of basketball,” Jalen Brunson said. “There’s going to be times when you have great stretches. There’s going to be times when the ball is not going through the hoop. I think for us as teammates to have each other’s backs. Us as individuals continue to do the things that’s put us in positions to be successful. Continue to support each other and continue to be who we are. Don’t try to change too much. Maybe pick it up a little bit when you’re doing your individual stuff to get in a game rhythm. But stick to your routine, stick to it with your work. Just keep believing.”
“It’s all right,” Bridges said. “I’m just trying to do whatever it takes to win. Trying to find opportunities, try to do all the right things and be aggressive. Sometimes it don’t come my way. Just try to do other things.”
His opportunities to do those other things have been limited as has struggled with his offense. After finishing first in the NBA in total minutes played last season (the fourth time in his career he’s done that), his minutes have dropped to 29.7 per game after playing 34.5 per game before the break.
“Whatever my minutes are, whatever it is, try to do the best of my minutes and try to help my team win,” Bridges said. “Really, no complaining too much.”
It’s not just his struggles offensively that have led to the reduced minutes. Knicks coach Mike Brown has shown a steady belief in Landry Shamet off the bench and has used him often to close games in place of Bridges or Josh Hart. Shamet’s minutes have inched up since the break, as well as his scoring — although he struggled through his own shooting woes of late, a 3-for-12 (all beyond the arc) night against the Clippers Monday and just 27% shooting from three over the last six games.
Bridges has scored just 5.3 points per game over the first three games of this road trip heading into the meeting with the Jazz Wednesday. He’s not the first player on the Knicks this season to go through a lull in their production. Some of it is a byproduct of Brown’s offense.
“I mean, yeah, it’s got it’s pros and cons,” Bridges said. “You try to have the feel of the game sometimes. But it’s tough because you’ve got to go out there and execute whatever we’ve got to do and try to do whatever it takes to win.”
Brunson, who had seen his own offense slip recently before coming out aggressively Monday, said that the contribution from Bridges’ teammates is simple.
“Tell him to keep shooting,” Brunson said. “Tell him to keep playing. He’s out there. So he has to continue to be who he is.”
Notes & quotes: Hart was downgraded to doubtful for Wednesday’s game with left knee soreness and did not participate in the team’s morning shootaround.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
