Knicks’ Mike Brown on Mikal Bridges’ role: ‘It’s gonna be hard to find minutes at times’

Mikal Bridges still has the support of his teammates. Getting back into the Knicks’ closing lineup will require more than that.

Bridges played just 17 minutes and sat out the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s 115-107 loss to the Cavs. Coach Mike Brown instead leaned on Landry Shamet and Deuce McBride, who combined for 31 points off the bench.

Afterward, Brown explained that their production is making the competition for minutes more difficult.

“We got two guys that are playing really well in Landry and Deuce,” Brown said, via Michael Angelo Murillo of Basketball Network. “It’s gonna be hard to find minutes at times for Mikal, and maybe even at times for Josh [Hart], you know, because those two guys are playing at a pretty high level.”

Brown emphasized that the reserves’ contributions extend beyond scoring.

“Landry and Deuce have been a big part of what we’ve done defensively,” he said. “If they’re playing at a high level, I got to keep trying to find ways to get those guys on the floor.”

Bridges finished with two points on 1-of-3 shooting, two assists and a rebound. Through 11 games, he is averaging 5.9 points while shooting 32.9% from the field and 26.5% from three.

Those are difficult numbers to overlook, particularly when the alternatives are helping.

Brown indicated he intends to keep Bridges in the starting lineup for now. Wednesday nevertheless showed that starting doesn’t guarantee finishing, even for an established player on the defending champions.

Jalen Brunson made clear that Bridges won’t have to work through the slump alone.

“No matter what’s going on with what people are saying, the people in this room have his back night in and night out,” Brunson said. “We see the work he puts into his game. That’s our brother; we’re going to keep it that way.”

The Knicks fell to 6-5 and begin a four-game road trip Friday against the Pacers. 

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