Mikal Bridges isnt shying away from his worsening Knicks struggles

CHARLOTTE – After another ride on the struggle bus for Mikal Bridges on Friday afternoon – which included the guard being benched for most of the fourth quarter of a nip-and-tuck Knicks victory – he pledged “I’ll be better” as teammates and coach forcefully went to bat for the embattled guard. “I’m not worried about (Bridges),” Josh Hart said.“I think the media and people are killing him.

He’s in a new situation.He’s in a situation where he’s played 19 games in a different role that he’s played the last four years.

So it’s our job to get him going.And all the other BS about what we gave up (the five first-round picks to the Nets), it means nothing. “If we win, if we get a championship, ain’t nobody give a damn about how many picks we gave up.

We could’ve given up 15 picks, it don’t matter.At the end of the day we’re trying to win a championship.

He’s going to be a key piece of that.”Bridges, largely a two-way disappointment this season, managed eight points on 3 of 10 shooting and was only used by Tom Thibodeau for three defensive possessions in the final 8 ½ minutes.It was the second time Bridges was pulled down the stretch in the last four games, as Thibodeau ran Friday with Miles McBride in the backcourt.The Knicks (11-8) quickly went on a run without Bridges and pulled off the comeback victory to finish 3-2 on their road trip. “I got to play better.

I’ve been inconsistent,” said Bridges, who entered Friday averaging 15.9 on 31% from 3 while leading the NBA in minutes.“I’ve had some games where I’ve played good, some I haven’t.

Just got to find a rhythm within the team.That’s pretty much it.

Not even 20 games in, still just trying to figure it out.”Thibodeau said he stuck with McBride down the stretch Friday because he was “fresh,” “making shots”  and “we were sort of in the mud.”Bridges, who was also benched in last week’s defeat to the Jazz, said Thibs “made the right deci...