Knicks' Mike Brown keeps sitting struggling Mikal Bridges as Jordan Clarkson lifts the bench
Mike Brown has pulled Mikal Bridges in the third quarter of three Knicks games, and Jordan Clarkson has helped turn two of the last three around.
Seven games into his tenure on the Knicks bench, Mike Brown has made one thing clear: Mikal Bridges' minutes depend on how he plays. Brown has pulled Bridges in the third quarter of three of those seven games, SNY's Ian Begley reported. In the meantime, Jordan Clarkson has gone from the edge of the rotation to the player who helps rescue sluggish nights.
The pattern held in Monday's 103-90 win over Brooklyn. After three flat quarters, Brown opened the fourth with Clarkson and Tyler Kolek alongside Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns, and that group pulled the game away. Landry Shamet led the New York Knicks with a season-high 22 points off the bench, going 6-for-8 from the field, 4-for-6 from three and 6-for-6 at the line, and Towns grabbed 16 rebounds. The Associated Press, via ABC7 New York, noted it was New York's 15th straight win over the Nets, who fell to 1-6.
Bridges is shooting 30 percent from the floor. Brown said he wants the wing to lean on the parts of his game that don't depend on his shot, such as running the floor at both ends, cutting, rebounding and getting into the paint, and he said he isn't worried about the long term. "It's a matter of time in my opinion, before Mikal gets going," Brown told SNY. Still, Brown has shown he will play someone else if he thinks that gives the Knicks a better chance to win that night.
Clarkson keeps giving him a reason to. Monday was the second time in three games he helped flip a game, after his 18 points drove the comeback win in Chicago. He has also been almost entirely out of the rotation in three of the seven games. Hart told SNY that Clarkson could play big minutes on another team, praised his willingness to accept a smaller role in New York and said he coaches teammates from the bench when he isn't playing. Brown went further and called the veteran the best teammate he has been around.
What it means against Chicago
The Knicks are 3-4 and have won three of their last four after a 0-3 start that included home losses to Philadelphia and Orlando and a four-point loss in Boston. The one setback in that stretch was a 98-93 loss in Philadelphia. Through seven games they have scored 111 or more only twice, so the second unit's punch matters right now.
Wednesday's visit from Chicago gives Brown a familiar test. The Knicks won 133-127 at the United Center in the first meeting, a game in which Clarkson's scoring off the bench played a central role. Whether Brown starts with the same lineup or goes back to the Clarkson-Kolek group that has worked late in games will be the first thing to watch. So will Bridges' third-quarter minutes. If his shot is still off, Brown has already shown he will turn to the bench, and Clarkson and Shamet have given him little reason to wait.
