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For the second consecutive game, Mikal Bridges struggled from the field.
And this time, his issues were compounded defensively as Thunder star — and MVP candidate — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander erupted for 39 points during the Knicks’ 126-101 loss Friday.
Bridges shot 0-for-9 from the field — with seven of those 3-pointers — across 32 minutes and has connected on just 4-of-27 shots the past two games.
After a strong stretch ignited his season after a slow start, he hit another roadblock, in addition to struggling as one of the Knicks’ defenders tasked with trying to contain Gilgeous-Alexander.
And this low point ended with Bridges’ first game where he didn’t score a field goal while playing at least six minutes since April 13, 2021.
“I just gotta make them,” Bridges said. “I think I’m just short on a lot of them probably these past couple games. I just gotta put a little more lift probably on it.”
Bridges missed one of his 3s early in the game as both teams struggled to score, and he added another missed shot later in the first half.
Gilgeous-Alexander, though, dazzled throughout with an early dunk, a quick layup to beat the buzzer at the end of the first quarter and a tough baseline jumper while blanketed by a Knicks defender — while also forcing a Jalen Brunson turnover and threading a behind-the-back pass during a later possession.
“He’s crafty,” Bridges said of Gilgeous-Alexander. “Real crafty. Just real slithery, that’s all we say about him. Like, he just get around you and it’s tough.”
The Knicks, for the first time in 2025, finally had their entire rotation available.
Miles McBride, who missed the last five games with a hamstring injury, played after being listed as questionable entering the night.
Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) played after being listed as questionable before warm-ups, too.
McBride’s injury occurred pregame leading into the Knicks’ Jan. 1 game against the Jazz, upending the young guard’s chance to start with Brunson also sidelined that game due to calf tightness.
But McBride’s injury didn’t subside in the aftermath of the Knicks’ win, forcing the former second-round pick — who inked a bargain of a three-year, $13 million extension last year — to miss their next four games after the calendar flipped to January.
And on a team navigating a depth issue, with Cameron Payne and Landry Shamet only getting limited minutes off the bench and the annual Tom Thibodeau minutes debate restarting, the Knicks needed McBride.
Before his injury, he averaged 9.8 points, 3.0 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game in 24.5 minutes — the most playing time of his career.
Isaiah Hartenstein collected six points, nine rebounds, six assists, two blocks and two steals during his first game back at the Garden since signing an $87 million deal with OKC in free agency.
The Knicks played a tribute video to him during the first timeout, and he received plenty of cheers from the fans during pregame introductions and following the video.
