How Mikal Bridges, Karl-Anthony Towns can keep Knicks in contention

The New York Knicks will soon find out how good they are without their offensive savior. Jalen Brunson will miss at least two weeks after rolling his ankle in Thursday's 113-109 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, via ESPN's Shams Charania.

Sixth man Miles McBride will play point guard in the superstar's stead. While McBride (nine points per game, 40.7 percent FG, 2.6 assists per game) is a valuable bench piece, he's not even half the player that Brunson (26.3 PPG, 49 percent FG, 7.4 APG) is. 

That's not a slight to the former, but there are only a handful of one-to-one Brunson replacements in the NBA, and none are on the Knicks. This is why they need everyone to step up while the two-time All-Star is out, and it starts with Mikal Bridges.

The 28-year-old wing is inconsistent offensively for the Orange and Blue, as he has eight games with single-digit points this season but also nine with 26-plus. He tallied 22 points (8-of-12 FG, 0-of-1 3 PT) in Friday's 105-95 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, but had just six (3-of-6 FG, 0-of-1 3 PT) against the Lakers and five (2-of-11 FG, 1-of-6 3 PT) in the 116-112 overtime win vs. the Miami Heat on March 2.

New York needs the version of Bridges who broke out with 26.1 points per game on 47.5 percent shooting for the Brooklyn Nets in the 2022-23 campaign. The former All-Defensive first teamer must be more aggressive for that to happen, but the coaching staff has to also draw up more plays featuring him in offensive sets. Now's the chance to justify the five first-round picks the organization gave up for him.

The Knicks must also scheme Karl-Anthony Towns open with McBride handling the ball. The five-time All-Star needs to at least match his season average of 24.2 points per game in Brunson's stead. It'll help to stay out of foul trouble, as he scored just 12 points (3-of-13 FG, 1-of-6 3 PT) with five fouls against the Lakers.

While Bridges has shown that he can improve on the 17.3 points a night that he's scoring this season, Towns is the clear second option in this offense. The seven-footer can score from all levels and is the best shooting center of all time, as his 1,089 made threes (40 percent) tops the position group historically.

The Knicks (40-23) won't be the same without Brunson, but they can keep the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference if Bridges and Towns step up. They have a four-game lead over the Milwaukee Bucks (36-27) at No. 4, so there's some slight breathing room.