Mikal Bridges and the Knicks just stick with it, and now they’re sticking it to the Celtics Mikal Bridges and the Knicks just stick with it, and now they’re sticking it to the Celtics

Posted on May 8, 2025

How in the world did the New York Knicks do it again? After scoring a measly 13 points in the first quarter and falling behind by 20 in the third, they put together a 21-4 run in the fourth to steal their second straight road victory against the defending-champion Boston Celtics on Wednesday.

What is this sorcery? If Tom Thibodeau is casting spells on the Celtics from the sideline, doing it twice in a row seems a little greedy.

“Can’t really explain it,” Knicks star Jalen Brunson told reporters after the 91-90 win in Game 2, “but we just gotta give each other confidence when we go through stretches like that and then just keep fighting, keep believing.”

New York’s Josh Hart said that the team is “very comfortable” at the end of close games because “we got Captain Clutch.” He was referring to Brunson, the Clutch Player of the Year, who was sitting next to him at the podium and immediately shook his head at his teammate.

Brunson had a few characteristically clutch moments down the stretch: a one-legged fadeaway over Jrue Holiday from midrange, a right-handed layup over Al Horford in transition, the game-winning free throws. If there is one fourth-quarter play that illustrates how the Knicks went up 2-0, though, it’s one that Mikal Bridges made several minutes before all of that.

Coming out of a timeout about halfway through the final frame, Bridges ran a pick-and-roll with Mitchell Robinson that yielded no advantage. He got off the ball, then got it back from Brunson and went into another pick-and-roll with Robinson with six seconds on the shot clock. He started his drive before Robinson had a chance to actually set a screen, so Holiday, one of the league’s best defenders, had no trouble staying with him. It looked like the possession was going nowhere, but Bridges hit Holiday with a hesitation, turned the corner downhill and, making use of his 7-foot-1 wingspan, lofted a left-handed reverse layup over the outstretched arms of Luke Kornet. It went off the glass and in.

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