Knicks' Mikal Bridges Downplays Preseason Struggles

Mikal Bridges is pleased that the New York Knicks' season opener provides a fresh start.

Oct 13, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges (25) warms up before the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Officially, Mikal Bridges has yet to take a shot with the New York Knicks.

That's probably for the better: few are leaning into the trope of a meaningless preseason harder than Bridges, who shot less than 11 percent with an extra point on the line over four appearances. The slate starts anew when the Knicks open the 2024-25 season against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT).

“Get the misses out now,” Bridges said in a report from Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “Get ready for the 82-game season.”

Sep 30, 2024; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges speaks during a media day press conference at the MSG training facility in Tarrytown, NY. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Bridges certainly did that in the Knicks' preseason finale last Friday night when he put up 10 misfires in a 118-117 defeat to the Washington Wizards. While relatively serviceable from the outside since going pro (career success rate of 37.5 percent between Phoenix and Brooklyn), Bridges has made it a personal endeavor to return to the heights he obtained at Villanova, where he hit 43.5 percent of his three-point tries during the latter of two national title runs in 2017-18.

To that end, Bridges has admitted to tweaking his jumpshot as he prepares for his official Manhattan debut.

“When I came out of college, I kind of tweaked it a little bit and then my second year in the league, I had the hitch, and tried to build back from that ever since,” Bridgs said, per Bondy. “So [I'm] just trying to get it right, pretty much it."

Bridges and the new-look Knicks have a chance to make a noticeable first impression come Tuesday night, when they face the defending champion Celtics. Boston rolled to its record-extending 18th championship thanks in part to the way it stopped the three: the Celtics allowed opponents to hit only 35.2 percent of their tries from three last season and that number dwindled to 33.3 in the postseason.

But, as Bridges said, everyone's percentages go back down to zero come opening night.

"Every year, I always feel good shooting, but I always feel like I could smooth it out, try to smooth it out better," Bridges said in another Bondy report. "I know I shoot a pretty good percentage, but it’s always just getting better every year and just keep leveling up ... We get another opportunity [on Tuesday] and now I’m 0-for-0.”

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