Knicks needed to beat down lowly Wizards twice in uneven victory

The Knicks needed a win so badly Saturday night that they sort of beat the Wizards twice.The electric second-quarter shooting of Mikal Bridges and significant contributions from some unlikely sources helped the Knicks build a 33-point second-half lead against the NBA’s worst team.Game over, right? Not quite.Imagine the nerves in Madison Square Garden when it was a four-point game with 10 minutes left for the Wizards to complete a historic comeback.Instead, the Knicks reawakened at both ends of the court and went back into cruise control on the way to snapping a two-game losing streak with a 122-103 victory.“It was four? I didn’t know that,” a surprised Karl-Anthony Towns said after finishing with 31 points and 11 rebounds.“We can’t have those nights — those moments where we play a great first half and then we act like teams are just going to give us the win.

This is the NBA, guys.”Bridges caught fire from long range in the second quarter, scoring 20 points and draining all four of his 3-point attempts.He finished with 27 points — most of which came during the building of a 79-46 lead midway through the third.“We’ve all seen those moments where Mikal shows why he is so coveted in this league,” Towns said.

“He can score the ball.But he does so much for our team and sacrifices so much so that we can be the best version of ourselves.”With Jalen Brunson and fellow point guard Deuce McBride sidelined by injury, Cam Payne got his second start of the year and responded with a team-high 10 first-quarter points, including a pair of early 3s.Payne later hit one of the biggest momentum-flipping shots, a 25-point step-back 3 to give the Knicks a 95-88 lead with 8:55 to play.“He’s not afraid,” coach Tom Thibodeau said.

“Cam is going to let it fly, which is what we like about him.We have to play tougher with a big lead, but that was a big shot.”Payne’s 3 halted what had been a 42-13 comeback run by the Wizards.“It felt good, especially...