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00:16Welcome back to another edition of New York Got Game.
00:19Dexter Henry here at Madison Square Garden with an Arsenal fan who I tolerate sometimes.
00:24My guy Jared Swartz, the fantastic sports reporter for us here at the New York Post.
00:28Also covering the Knicks. Jared and I coming to you after the Knicks lost 115-107 to the Cavaliers here
00:33at the Garden.
00:34That ends their four-game winning streak.
00:35This was a game in which the Knicks didn't play their best defense in the first quarter.
00:40Found themselves down double digits.
00:42Battled back and tied this a couple of times.
00:43Almost looked like game one of the Eastern Conference Finals, but they eventually lost.
00:47What went wrong for the Knickerbockers tonight?
00:48You know, I wrote in my game story, Dexter, that it felt like it was going the same way that
00:52we've seen so many times with this matchup.
00:54The Cavs were winning for a while.
00:56So, a cat cut the deficit to seven points.
01:00Cavs call a timeout.
01:01Coming out of the timeout, the Knicks, I think, go on a 7-2 run.
01:04Sorry, a 9-2 run.
01:05Tie the game.
01:06Cavs call another timeout.
01:07It's like, here we go again.
01:09The Cavs are wilting.
01:10The Knicks are rising in crunch time.
01:12You know, when the game's on the line, the Knicks are making the plays.
01:14The Cavs aren't.
01:15And then after that, James Harden flipped the script.
01:18James Harden hit two shots.
01:19He had a jumper to put the Cavs up by two.
01:21He later hit a three-pointer to put the Cavs up again.
01:24And at a rare time, we see that the Knicks come up short in crunch time.
01:28And what was interesting was Jalen Brunson sat on the bench for most of the fourth quarter.
01:32He came back in with four minutes and 20 seconds left.
01:35But when he came back in, Cat went out.
01:38And they never were able to get that final push, that final jump.
01:41And some of it is maybe Mike Brown just experimenting a little bit.
01:45And we've seen him take these early regular season games to experiment.
01:48And I think you saw that again today.
01:50And, look, James Harden made plays at the end.
01:52The Knicks didn't.
01:53That's what it came down to.
01:54And Mike Brown talked a little bit about it after the game.
01:56Before I get to that, I'm curious.
01:57What do you think of the experimentation that we saw from Mike Brown,
02:00particularly in that situation in the fourth quarter?
02:02I wrote about it the other day that this is Mike Brown's M.O., right?
02:05Like, this is a core staple to who he is as a coach.
02:08That he looks at the regular season as sort of a canvas to experiment.
02:12Yeah.
02:12Not maybe what his predecessor, Tom Thibodeau, did.
02:15Totally different.
02:15Where it was, I'm going to do everything I can to win every night.
02:18No, Mike Brown is doing what he can to win in different ways.
02:21Jalen Brunson said that the other day.
02:23We don't just want to win right now.
02:24We want to see how we can win in different ways.
02:26And we want to see what can help us down the road.
02:29And we want to have examples that we can go to later in the season in the playoffs.
02:33And I think Mike Brown the other day talked about the playoffs as the real season.
02:37And that's obviously different than what Tom Thibodeau did two years ago.
02:40So it obviously worked last year.
02:42We saw him take that approach.
02:44We see him use different lineups, use different rotations, use different bench players.
02:50Tyler Kolek has come in the rotation.
02:51Alvarado has been out.
02:52Diawara has gone from out of the rotation to in.
02:54Clarkson has gone from out to in to out.
02:56You know, so we've seen Dalton Connect have some minutes.
03:00We've seen a little bit of everything only a couple games into the season.
03:03And that's the Mike Brown way.
03:05And last year it worked.
03:05So why can't it work this year?
03:07Why can't it work?
03:08It's always good to do a little bit of experimentation.
03:10But this is what Mike Brown had to say about how his team performed after the 115-107 loss to
03:15the Cavaliers.
03:16Good game by Cleveland.
03:18And I say that because they won the possession game.
03:24You know, when you play a good team, one of the things we kind of track is, excuse me, what
03:32I call it, the possession game.
03:33And we lost it in every category.
03:37They had 14 more free throw attempts than us, four more offensive rebounds than us, and two less turnovers.
03:46And when that happens versus a good team, it's going to be hard to win the game.
03:53So I give him a lot of credit.
03:54Okay, we've got to talk about Carl Anthony Towns because in this game, he gets another double-double, 21-11,
03:59ties the mark for Willis Reed by most double-doubles by a Knick franchise history to start the season.
04:04That's been really good officially.
04:06I think everybody's always going to talk about the offense.
04:08I've personally been very impressed with his defense.
04:11What have you made about his start to the season, particularly when you take all the contract stuff that is
04:15surrounding him?
04:16What do you make of his start to the season?
04:17Well, if you remember before the season, he said if he didn't have a new contract, he wanted a new
04:20contract to feel comfortable on the court.
04:22He doesn't have a new contract, but he certainly feels comfortable on the court.
04:26He looks comfortable.
04:26He sure looks comfortable, yeah.
04:27Like you said, he's been awesome on both ends.
04:30He's taking less shots, but he's more efficient.
04:32He's a vacuum on the glass, and he just vacuums up rebounds.
04:37And like you said, he's been tremendous defensively.
04:39That's why maybe tonight was an outlier, but the Knicks have been really good defensively to start this season.
04:44They've been good on the perimeter, and they've been good, to his credit, in the paint.
04:47And I think we saw that last year during the playoffs that he really stepped up a level on that
04:51end of the floor.
04:52I'd agree.
04:53And if he wants a new contract, he's certainly making a case and putting his money where his mouth is.
04:59Yeah, he is, and we'll see how that all plays out.
05:01But he's been tremendous to start this season thus far.
05:04Now, what I want to ask, and I think this is going to be a thing that Knicks fans are
05:07going to want to talk about right now,
05:09Mikel Bridges.
05:09We have to talk about Mikel Bridges.
05:11Only two points tonight.
05:13Only played 17 minutes.
05:15Second game in a row, he's played 17 minutes.
05:16He's played less than 22 minutes in six games this season.
05:21He struggled shooting the ball.
05:23Slumps happen.
05:23You know that.
05:24I've been watching basketball for a long time.
05:26Are you concerned about Mikel Bridges at this point?
05:30Should Knicks fans be concerned about him and the way he's playing and his confidence level?
05:34Not even just 17 minutes tonight.
05:36No fourth quarter minutes.
05:37He was on the bench the entire fourth quarter.
05:38And I saw a stat before the game that was a little mind-boggling.
05:42Oh, let me hear this.
05:43It was that Pacom Dadie actually has more second-half points this season than Mikel Bridges.
05:49No.
05:50And that's incredible.
05:51It was either a fourth quarter points or second-half points.
05:54I mean, either way, it's tremendous.
05:56And I feel like I've been saying since last year that trust Bridges because he goes through these slumps, these
06:04stretches where he looks lost.
06:06And then we see time and time again that he comes back, he shows his worth, especially in the playoffs,
06:10especially in big moments.
06:11Yep.
06:11But, man, it's tough right now.
06:13Like, he looks like he's lost his confidence.
06:16He's unsure with the ball, and he's turning the ball over more than he usually does.
06:20Yep.
06:20He's obviously, you know, it's not really just a shooting slump.
06:22He looks unsure of himself on offense.
06:24And that's obviously concerning.
06:25And Mike Brown said after the game that right now Sham and McBride are just playing better.
06:30And even, you know, Clarkson didn't play today, but he had been playing before that.
06:33And those three guys are just playing better than Bridges right now.
06:37So it's really finding that balance of wanting Bridges to find his rhythm and to re-find his game.
06:43But also knowing that right now, Shamit, Deuce, and at times Clarkson are playing better.
06:49And it's showing in the minutes.
06:51And, you know, because he wanted—he was asked about whether he wants to take Bridges out of the starting lineup
06:57for Shamit.
06:58He said, you know, this early in the season, I'm not going to make a panic move.
07:02But Shamit's playing more and more.
07:04And he has said in the past that Shamit is as close to a starter as any of the non
07:08-starters.
07:09And we're going to come back to that.
07:10I want people to hear what Mike Brown had to say about that when he was asked that question.
07:15Mikkel is a starter, and so it's not a question of that.
07:18You know, he's like a lot of players.
07:21They've had their good moments and their not-so-good moments.
07:25And, you know, Mikkel has a proven track record of playing at a pretty high level as a starter in
07:30this league.
07:30So for me to, you know, make a quote-unquote panic decision and change it right now, we're 10 games
07:40in or whatever we are, I'm not feeling it.
07:45So, Jared, you heard what exactly he had to say about that, and you were right.
07:48Like, he has said in the past that Shamit is as close to a starter as anybody on this team.
07:52He's pretty much all said everybody on this team is on the bench is fighting for minutes.
07:57Do you ever think we get to a point where we make a change?
08:00Because at this point, 11 games in, and I agree with you, we've seen Mikkel Bridges struggle before.
08:05This slump feels a little bit longer.
08:07I'm just wondering, does any of this even matter?
08:10And does it really just matter?
08:12This is a guy who's performing in the playoffs.
08:13You've seen him come big in the playoffs.
08:15Is this anything to be worried about at all?
08:17It matters because, remember, the Knicks are fighting to stay under the second apron and have decisions to make with
08:24Carl Anthony Towns and what to do with him, with Josh Hart, with Miles McBride.
08:29And I know, you know, our Knicks beat writer, Stephen Bondy, wrote the other day that, not that he was
08:34reporting it,
08:34but if you want to find a way to keep everybody and stay under the second apron, you can trade
08:40Mikkel Bridges and basically recreate him in the aggregate with Shamit and McBride.
08:45Now, we're a long way from there right now.
08:47We're a long way from there, but it's something to keep in mind.
08:50And it's tough not to worry because it's concerning.
08:53And it's like deja vu over and over again.
08:56Two years ago, he struggled in the regular season and came up big in the playoffs.
08:59Last year, he struggled in the regular season.
09:01And people forget, you know, going back to whether Mike Brown makes the move, he was, we probably got as
09:06close as we possibly did when the Knicks were down 2-1 in the first round to the Hawks.
09:10And before Bridges came alive and was really good at the end of the playoffs, he was really struggling in
09:14that round.
09:15First three games of that series, yep.
09:16And Miles McBride was playing well.
09:17And we were asking Mike over and over and over again, are you going to take Mikkel Bridges out of
09:22the lineup?
09:22And it was getting to a point where he was basically just starting, but playing bench minutes.
09:26And they were basically just starting him to keep his confidence.
09:28And right now, that's what's happening.
09:29He's starting, but he's playing bench minutes.
09:31He played two minutes in the third quarter, and then you didn't see him again.
09:34Yeah.
09:34And he played less than Shamit and Miles McBride.
09:37So right now, he's not playing starting minutes.
09:39Every night in the box score, it's four guys with starting minutes and not Bridges.
09:43So I don't think it's a move he's going to make, but he's basically operating as a bench player right
09:48now.
09:48Yeah.
09:48It's going to be very interesting to see what goes forward.
09:50I think Mikkel Bridges eventually gets his confidence back and will be fine.
09:54But, you know, we always say it can get late early.
09:57All right.
09:57Next up for the Knicks.
09:58They will be traveling to Naptown on Friday, NBA Cup game.
10:01They'll play the Pacers first time.
10:03They'll see each other this season.
10:04We will see if Tyrese Halliburton will play in this one.
10:07What are you going to be keeping your eye on to see how the Knicks can bounce back in this
10:10one after their four-game winning streak was ended?
10:12Well, one thing that we didn't talk too much about was that the Knicks didn't get to the line that
10:15much.
10:15Yeah.
10:15Only 11 free throws.
10:17The Cavs had 25.
10:18I think midway through the third quarter, they only had one free throw, which is weird for a team.
10:22None for Jalen Brunson.
10:22None for Jalen Brunson.
10:24So do they make an effort to get to the line and get to the rim and get fouled and
10:29make that a point of emphasis that they maybe didn't have today?
10:31That's what I'm paying attention to.
10:33Obviously, we just talked about it, but Bridges is something to monitor and what his minutes look like compared to
10:39Shamit and Miles McBride.
10:40And not even that.
10:42Josh Hart looked pretty rusty today coming back after missing three games with the ankle problem.
10:46He didn't shoot well.
10:47He didn't make that sort of all-around impact that he normally makes.
10:54And he didn't play as much in the fourth quarter either.
10:56He was out for Shamit in that fourth quarter as well.
10:59So I like to see him get back in the groove.
11:02And look, they won six of the last seven games.
11:04They're on a second leg of a back-to-back.
11:06They lost to a good Cavs team.
11:09Obviously, nothing to be worried about right now.
11:11But, you know, they're already 0-1-1 in the Cup.
11:13It's a big Cup game.
11:14It's a big –
11:15It's a must-win.
11:16It's, you know, for a game like this, it's a big game.
11:19Yeah, it's a big game.
11:20We'll see how they do on Friday in the Cup.
11:22That is the start of a four-game road trip for the Knicks in Naptown against the Pacers.
11:26And they have two games north of the border in Toronto against the Raptors.
11:29And they close that out in Minneapolis where Jared will be with the Knicks for the last game of that
11:34road trip.
11:34But the Knicks fall today, 1-15 to 1-07 here at the Garden for the great Jared Schwartz.
11:39I'm Dexter Henry.
11:40We'll catch you next time on New York Got Game.
11:44And thanks for watching New York Got Game.
11:47Boom shakalaka.