When the New York Knicks gave up five first-round picks to acquire Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets, the move was met with shock, skepticism, and scrutiny. Five first-round picks. For a player whose offensive role had diminished, whose stats were down, and whose place in a new system seemed more complementary than central.

It was one of the most bizarre returns for a player in recent NBA history, which is borderline unprecedented. Bridges was no superstar scorer, nor a perennial All-NBA selection. He had gone from being Brooklyn's first option to, arguably, New York's fourth. Questions swirled: Was this a reach and an overpay?

But New York seemingly knew what they were doing. They were reuniting Bridges with former college teammates at Villanova, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart. All three won an NCAA national championship playing together, and the Knicks were hoping this could translate into a good winning culture in the NBA and eventually a title.

Then, as the Knicks stunned the defending champion Boston Celtics in back-to-back games to start their 2025 Eastern Conference Semifinal series, those questions disappeared. Because Mikal Bridges answered every single one of them.

People often forget that the Knicks didn’t bring in Bridges to average 25 points a game. They brought him in to defend the NBA’s biggest, strongest wings. They brought him in for this very moment.

The Celtics, with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown leading the charge on the way to their title last season, are the blueprint every other contender is trying to crack. Long, physical wings who can score from anywhere, who can switch everything, and who have been to the NBA Finals twice in the past three seasons. To compete with them, you don’t just need offense. You need answers.

New York’s answer? Stack the deck with perimeter stoppers. Bridges. OG Anunoby. Josh Hart. Two-way warriors with toughness and length. And in a matchup where margins are razor-thin, where late-game execution determines the outcome, the Knicks’ investment has already paid dividends.

With the game tied in overtime and the final seconds ticking down, the Celtics had the ball in Jaylen Brown’s hands. But as Brown caught the ball on the left wing, Bridges was there to read the play and anticipate the move.

He ripped the ball from Brown’s hands in one swift motion, wrestled it away as Brown scrambled to recover, and held on as the buzzer sounded. Ball game in Game 1, Knicks steal Game 1 in the Boston Garden.

Bridges didn’t just make a great play – he made the play. The one that changes the conversation, and the one that likely swings a series.

Two nights later, the stakes rose again. Boston had a huge 20-point lead late in the third quarter, and New York was running on fumes. That’s when Bridges flipped the switch, not just defensively, but offensively too.

He scored all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter alone, rallying the Knicks back into the game. It was the highest-scoring playoff quarter of his career. The energy inside the Boston Garden shifted, as if life were sucked out of the arena.

And with the Knicks clinging to a slim lead and seconds left, Jayson Tatum had the ball on the left wing. As he tried to make his move toward the baseline, he found himself trapped, smothered by both Bridges and Anunoby. There was nowhere to go.

Tatum tried to make the right play and pass out of the double. But Bridges read it. He stuck out his arm, deflected the ball, and threw the ball to the backcourt to a streaking Jalen Brunson, and it sealed the victory. Game over, Knicks 2, Celtics 0. The seemingly invincible defending champion Celtics looked every bit of human that they could be, dropping two straight at home on both comeback occasions.

Bridges’ role and the Knicks’ vision

Bridges’ offensive dip since arriving in New York has been noticeable. He’s no longer the guy who averaged 26.1 points per game in Brooklyn post-KD and Kyrie. With Jalen Brunson scoring and orchestrating, Karl-Anthony Towns spacing, and OG Anunoby slashing, Bridges has often been the third option, sometimes fourth.

But that’s not the full picture. Basketball is bigger than the box score. And Bridges, even in a quieter offensive role, is impacting winning at the highest level.

The Knicks gambled on a vision: a roster designed to slow down elite wing scorers in high-stakes games. And with just two playoff games against Boston, that vision has materialized.

They didn’t need Bridges to carry the offense. They needed him to carry the moment, to guard the other team’s best guy, and to make the winning play. And he did.

Bridges didn’t ask to be traded. He didn’t lobby for five first-round picks to be attached to his name. But he embraced the responsibility. He leaned into the expectations. And now, he’s delivering on the biggest stage against the defending champions. He’s defending like a star and playing like a closer, all while doing it without the spotlight demanding he score 30.

There’s something poetic about a player making his greatest impact on the defensive end in a league that so often celebrates offense. In a series where Boston's stars were expected to take over, Bridges is writing a different script – one that says defense still wins games, and that the “other guy” can become the hero.

The job isn’t finished, and Boston definitely isn’t going away. They’re too good and battle-tested. But with the Knicks up 2-0, the tone has been set for the rest of the series.

And if this series is the war New York built their roster for, then Mikal Bridges is one of their weapons to go to war with. Game 3 awaits. But you better believe the Celtics will be seeing No. 25 in their nightmares.