No more! Bridges playoff showdown to find the style of the big gate, and this move will be replaced in the first round of the defense

Michael Bridges felt strange in the regular season of the 2024-25 season.

Not only did Bridges inexplicably change his shooting posture during the offseason, his shooting data once fell to the bottom, but his three-point shooting percentage was still the lowest since the rookie season. Because Bridges' proud defense "disappeared", this former member of the best defensive lineup collapsed in various defensive data, and the high-level defensive influence data turned out to be negative.

But after entering the playoffs, Bridges stopped pretending and showed up completely. In the first round of the Pistons, Bridges blocked his opponent against Cningham. In the second round of the Celtics, he saw through the Celtics's tie tactics and grabbed the ball from Jaylen Brown. In G2, he decisively assisted in defending Tatum to complete the steal that locked the victory (it looked like a block but the official technical statistics calculated the steal).

"On the offensive end we have Brunson's Best Key Master of the Year, and on the defensive end we have Bridges, one of the best defensive players of the year," Towns lamented that the Knicks could play the richest battle at the critical moment.

is indeed rich enough. In the critical moments of the playoffs, Brunson scored 41 points in the league, and Bridges also won the title with four steals.

In the 2024 offseason, the Knicks did not hesitate to send away chip bags including 5 first-round picks and 1 swap rights for Bridges. What they valued was Bridges' offensive and defensive attributes and standard wing players' figures. They used the Celtics as their imaginary enemy and tried to build the combination of Anunobi and Bridges into the Celtics' double Terminator.

In the regular season, the focus of outside attention is more on Bridges' decline in offensive efficiency. But in fact, Bridges' defensive performance made the Knicks even more worried.

Bridges came to a new environment, and the Knicks' starting five-man team changed two, and the team needed to re-run and cultivate the chemistry. In order to help Brunson relieve pressure, Thibodeau added Bridges's task to the core defender when allocating defensive tasks. Bridges' time to play against opponents' defenders is close to 70% of career highs, and Bridges used to be more accustomed to the wings.

Downs, who lacked defensive ability, became the starting center of the Knicks, and most of the time he was arranged by Thibodeau to guard the penalty area. The pick-and-roll between the opponent's No. 1 or No. 2 and No. 5 brought greater challenges to Bridges' ability to squeeze through the screen and chase. According to statistics, Bridges averaged more than 25 pick-and-roll defense career highs per game. After Dortmund in the 2021-22 season, Bridges is the player with the most pick-and-rolls per game in the league.

With Bridges' thin body shape, it is theoretically not difficult to squeeze through the cover. The problem is that Bridges has been criticized for being "clean instinct" on the defensive end throughout the season. He deliberately avoids physical confrontation and likes to surround the pick-and-roll instead of squeeze through, which makes it difficult for him to effectively interfere with his opponent. As Bridges is exposed to the front line of defense as a defender against the ball, his problems on the defensive end are easily noticed, which also amplifies the weakness of inside Towns. When the two were on the court at the same time, the Knicks had a very poor defense.

Many data can prove that Bridges' defensive regression this season:

The regular season, the players against Bridges shot 46.4% from the field, which is 0.8% higher than their season average.

When Bridges was present, the Knicks lost 112.9 points in a hundred rounds, and when he was not present, the data dropped to 109.9 points.

Bridges lost 0.94 points per game in the pick-and-roll defense, which is only fewer than 29.1% of the league's players. Even when Bridges was overloaded with the Nets last season, his pick-and-roll defense was not so bad.

In almost all the advanced integrated data lists that measure defensive influence, Bridges is negative. Its defensive win contribution is the lowest since its rookie season.

In addition, whether it is the US media, scouts, or executives, they are very disappointed with Bridges' defensive performance this season. A scout bluntly said: "Some nights, Bridges is the worst outside defender in the Knicks." Katz, a reporter from TheAthletic who has long reported on the Knicks, said: "He is definitely not the worst player in the Knicks' defense, but his actual performance is the largest gap between the level he should have shown."

"The gap between actual performance and expected performance is too large", which is the most objective evaluation of Bridges' defensive performance. In fact, when Bridges is determined to lock his opponent, he can still play the top defense. For example, in the regular season against the Hawks against Trae Young, Bridges defended his opponent 50 pick-and-rolls, which was much higher than his season average. Bridges limited Young to 8 of 22 shots, forcing his opponent to make 9 turnovers and only 6 assists. In one of the defenses, Bridges pressed against Yang in the whole game, forcing the Hawks to violate the rules for 24 seconds, and the whole game was in full swing.

However, Bridges has played too few top defenses in the regular season. Even Bridges himself knows: "I know I'm struggling on the defensive end this season. Do you think I'm not defending this season?" After entering the playoffs, Bridges showed up. Bridges, who deliberately avoided physical contact, disappeared, and he began to pursue physical confrontation frantically. In the first round of the Pistons, they also defended Cningham and Durham's pick-and-roll. Bridges adopted a strategy that was completely different from the regular season. He strengthened his pressing against Cningham, and fiercely fought against Durham and squeezed through the cover to chase and defend.

"I don't want to be blocked, I just want to make physical contact as much as possible," Bridges said.

The entire series, when Bridges faced Cunningham, who made only 11 of 29 shots, sent 6 assists, but lost 8 turnovers, and Bridges did not give Cunningham a free throw.

G1 in the series against the Celtics, the Knicks had the last defense, Bridges turned his back to White, who was responsible for serving the Celtics, and his eyes were locked on Brown. When Brown received a high lob, Bridges quickly rushed to Brown to complete the life grab.

Bridges revealed that this is the defense he learned from the NFL. Human eyes have limitations and cannot be locked on the ball's route and the opponent moving at the same time. Bridges chooses one of two: "I just stare at Brown's eyes, follow the ball's trajectory, try to grab it as soon as I see the ball, I just want to break the ball."

For Brown and Tatum, Bridges, whose defensive moves are erratic, has become a nightmare. Watch Bridges' overtime in G1 and key defenses in the fourth quarter of G2, and you will find that he always appears in the weak side positions of Brown and Tatum.

Remember Draymond Green's words?

"You can just let them go with your left hand when you defend against doubles."

G1 overtime when both sides scored 100 degrees, Brown broke through with his left hand, Bridges appeared in the assisted defense position to force Brown to pass the ball, Bridges quickly returned to the position to intercept the ball and saved the ball outside the field to save the ball successfully. The Knicks made a counterattack and overtook the score. In the last defense of G2, Bridges also appeared in the assisted defense position when Tatum broke through with his left hand, completing a deadly defense.

Since the playoffs, Bridges has suppressed his opponents' shooting percentage at 36.5%. Among them, in the first two games with the Celtics, this figure was only 38.5%.

Considering that the Knicks played 0 wins and 4 losses against the Celtics in the regular season and were defeated by 3 games, the top two teams in the East and West teams were 1 wins and 10 losses, not many people are optimistic about the Knicks' playoff prospects. Throughout the season, the Knicks made people feel that they lacked the temperament of a strong team.

But in the first two games with the Celtics, the Knicks seemed to have transformed. They were 20 points behind twice but relying on their unyielding mental strength to turn the tide and complete the reversal. Bridges' defense is the Knicks' reversal code.

"He has the ability to change the game with defense," Hart praised Bridges.

"Win the championship by defense" will never go out of date.