With Jalen Brunson struggling, Mikal Bridges almost willed Knicks’ comeback vs. Celtics

Jalen Brunson didn’t have it on Tuesday night against the Celtics.

The Knicks guard scored a season-low 15 points on 6-for-21 shooting (1-of-8 from three) in New York’s 123-117 loss in Boston.

Brunson’s performance was indicative of the team’s overall poor performance against the rival Celtics.

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After getting out to a fast start, going up by 11 points after the first quarter, the Celtics outscored the Knicks 73-44 in the second and third quarters. And although the Knicks had a furious comeback in the fourth, it wasn’t enough as Brunson scored just four points on 2-of-7 shooting in the final frame.

Despite the poor performance, Knicks coach Mike Brown wasn’t discouraged by what he saw from the team’s captain.

“I felt he got the normal looks that he normally takes,” he said after the game. “Heâ€s gotta keep shooting ’em and heâ€s gotta keep getting to his spots. I thought he got to his spots and I thought he took good threes too, they just didnâ€t go in. And that happens sometimes. So, a guy like him, he’s got to keep letting it fly if he’s open. Or if he gets to the spots.”

With Brunson struggling, the Knicks leaned on Mikal Bridges for the offensive scoring.

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The forward scored 17 of his season-high 35 points (12-of-17 shooting) in the fourth quarter, hitting four of his eight threes to help cut the Celtics’ lead to as low as three points in the final minutes of the game.

Brown was impressed with Bridges’ performance and credited him for almost completing the comeback.

“He was feeling it and he was aggressive and I thought our guys did a good job trying to find him, and he hit some big shots for us,” Brown said of Bridges. “He was one of the guys trying to will us back into the game offensively.”

Bridges’ Knicks tenure has been a rocky one. After the team traded five first-round picks for him ahead of last season, the forward didn’t necessarily live up to that package. He averaged 17.6 points a game in his first season with New York, a far cry from the 20 points per game he put up in his two years with the Nets.

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And while Bridges entered Tuesday averaging 16.1 points per game, there have been sparks of offensive explosions from the Villanova product among his all-world defense this season. Perhaps Tuesday’s performance will carry over 24 hours later when the Knicks take on the Hornets at home in the second of a back-to-back.

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