Former Knicks Hero Turns Into Clutch Time Zero

The Boston Celtics' collapse to the New York Knicks was shocking in the moment, with the messy Knicks coming up big at every conceivable crunch time moment through the first few games of the series.

Mikal Bridges was there at every turn as they took a 3-1 advantage, making several key stops against the championship-winning wings and taking over as the setup man to Clutch Player of the Year Jalen Brunson's near-inevitable fourth quarter scoring barrage to help his team pull away almost every time.

His stats took a noticeable leap entering the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, where his shooting would be necessary to keep up with their prolific offense.

He's been much more consistent of a scorer if you just look at the box score numbers, finishing between 15 and 20 points per night on at least a half-dozen makes in every game, but the Knicks could have really used him in the clutch last night as they lost 130-121 in finding themselves on the other side of a 3-1 lead.

Bridges was missing more than he was hitting all game in constantly settling for fading midrange jumpers any time the Knicks had an advantage, but initially looked to be shaking off the rust for another one of the fourth quarter shotmaking masterclasses he put on during the second round when he canned a pair of 3-pointers to keep New York close entering the final minutes.

What followed was an unfortunate stretch in which Bridges soaked up all of the team's chances at cutting the lead without any luck finding the bottom of the net. Facing a seven-point deficit just under the two-minute mark, he took and blew a relatively open moving three on the go. He got a chance at a re-do mere seconds later when the ball was inbounded, but found the front of the rim from the opposite corner. Next time down, another deep miss from Bridges.

The wing ended up taking four of the New York's six total shot attempts in those final 120 seconds, converting on none of the necessary jumpers that would have cut the Pacers' lead in half. Especially unfortunate for Bridges, who finally turned in a positive 3-point shooting game after making just two of the 10 he hoisted over the series' first three games.

Bridges' journey to eventually winning over the hearts of Knicks fans was long and winding, with his taking until the playoffs to finally prove his two-way value after an inconsistent regular season.

He looked like he'd finally broken through into returning to the fringe-All-Star the team traded for last summer in the Knicks' second round win, but his clutch regression at the most important junction of the season and inability to slow down Tyrese Haliburton on the other end won't do him any favors around New York.