Miles Bridges tore the Knicks up down the stretch to lead Charlotte to the 125-114 win and just about end NY’s hail-Mary hopes for a playoff spot. Afterwards, he publicly revealed on Twitter that yes indeed — every time he plays the Knicks he is looking for revenge — for them passing over him and picking Kevin Knox with the #8 overall pick in the 2018 draft.
1. Bridges’ Revenge
This was a 104-102 game in Charlotte’s favor with 5:53 left in the game. When Miles Bridges ripped down an offensive rebound and fed P.J. Washington for a 3 and 5-point Charlotte lead.
The Knicks closed back to 109-105 when Bridges hit a 3 from the corner to make it 112-105 with 3:30 left. He made the 2nd of back-to-back 3’s with 2:24 left to put the Knicks in a deep hole at 112-105.
Next came an exclamation-point Dunk with 3 minutes left to make it 114-106.
DON'T POKE THE MILES‼️ ✈️@MilesBridges | @HornetsOnBally | @Drpepper pic.twitter.com/IYL7qgQIcl
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) March 31, 2022
Bridges followed with a drive and bucket with 1 minute left to make it 119-108, and hit 2 free throws in the final minute to finish with 31 points on 11-15 shooting, 4-4 from 3, and 5-6 from the free throw line. Burying the Knicks. Again.
Bridges has played Great ball vs NY every time he plays them lately. He’s having a bang-up season averaging 20 ppg.
Afterwards, we learned that not only is Bridges seeking revenge against NY every time he plays them — but also — the word is that the Knicks picked Kevin Knox over him because Knox outplayed him in a pre-draft workout 3-on-3 scrimmage.
But Bridges felt otherwise — responding to Knick fan Julito McCullum who tweeted “Why you let Knox cook you then?!?” — Bridges’ response: “You seen it happen? Alr then. 2 or 3 buckets ain’t cooking. Y’all front office thought otherwise.”
You seen it happen? Alr then. 2 or 3 buckets ain’t cooking. Y’all front office thought otherwise 🤷🏽 https://t.co/J4HYjThk5q
— Miles Bridges (@MilesBridges) March 31, 2022
2. Barrett’s Defense — You Had to Watch the Game 3 Times
RJ Barrett was guarding Bridges and normally plays excellent defense but didn’t this time — allowing Bridges open space on the 3’s and getting beaten backdoor on the drive. Walt Frazier and Knicks Twitter pointed this out but some Knick fans saw it another way — that other Knicks didn’t rotate and Barrett’s D wasn’t at fault.
He could’ve been better but a lot of what is going to be “RJ’s fault” we’re missed rotations by IQ, Mitch, and Burks. For instance the Birdges layup off the baseline cut, RJ called for the switch onto Washington and IQ lost Bridges on the cut.
— Nick (@nyck37) March 31, 2022
Just earlier in the week coach Tom Thibodeau said in a post-game interview that you have to watch a game 2 or even 3 times, and know the Knicks plays before you know what happened. This seemed a representative example.
3. Knox Scores 17 in Atlanta
Meanwhile, Kevin Knox — oblivious to it all — was having his best night of his new career in Atlanta — scoring 17 points in 17 minutes on 3’s and drives and dunks.
Kevin Knox is everywhere ‼️ pic.twitter.com/1T92AtECCx
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 31, 2022
4. Randle Plays Well; Says He Never Demanded Trade
Julius Randle played well — 21 points on 7-16 shooting, and 4-10 from 3, with 5 rebounds and 7 assists. Afterwards he spoke on the rumor that circulated after the last game that he or his agent had demanded that Knicks management trade him after the season. He said that never happened.
Julius Randle on the rumors he demanded a trade from the Knicks:
"It's just not true at all. If it ain't coming from me, it ain't true" pic.twitter.com/WV2Je1sq1A
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) March 31, 2022
5. Craig Carton Called It — Not?
All of that threw into the wind radio analyst Craig Carton’s breaking of the story. Carton had taken to twitter chastising other news outlets for not crediting him when they ran with the rumor he announced on the radio.
I'm your source – you should acknowledge it
— Craig Carton (@craigcartonlive) March 29, 2022
Carton took particular aim at the NY Post for not crediting him.
As reported by me and @EvanRobertsWFAN three hours ago – why does every Post reporter rewrite our stories and not recognize where they heard it from – this is nuts
— Craig Carton (@craigcartonlive) March 29, 2022
Once Randle stated it was a false rumor after this game, Berman shot back at Carton.
Julius Randle was asked if he requested a trade after the Bulls' game Monday – as WFAN's Craig Carton said on air in his "unconfirmed rumor.'' "That’s not true, bro. That’s just not true, simple as that, it’s not true at all.
— Marc Berman (@NYPost_Berman) March 31, 2022
All in all a fun night of drama overshadowed by the Chris Rock-Will Smith-Jada Pickett Smith drama of the Oscars.
6. The Game Up Until Bridges Ripped It Away
It had been a close game throughout but Charlotte started to pull away late in the 3rd and early in the 4th — pulling out to a 10-pt lead before the Knicks, led by Immanuel Quickley with buckets by Barrett and a 3 by Alec Burks — pulled to within 104-102 with 5:53 left.
Quickley finished with 16 points on on 6-12 shooting (1-6 from 3) and 4 assists in 23 minutes off the bench.
.@IQ_GodSon getting CRAFTY pic.twitter.com/viSHOCnVzH
— KNICKS ON MSG (@KnicksMSGN) March 31, 2022
RJ Barrett had 25 points on 9-17 shooting (1-4 from 3; 6-8 in free throws) and has now improved his ppg average to 20.1 — exactly tying Randle for team lead. Barrett’s free throw percentage is now a respectable .720.
.@RjBarrett6 SPIN CYCLE pic.twitter.com/Clq9ZieCmB
— KNICKS ON MSG (@KnicksMSGN) March 31, 2022
Evan Fournier had a good game — 30 points on 10-16 shooting (6-8 from 3) but his strong performance fell into the shadow of Bridges and all else that went on.
EV BEATS THE SHOT CLOCK 🚨 pic.twitter.com/WkWolZCdcB
— KNICKS ON MSG (@KnicksMSGN) March 31, 2022
Obi Toppin had 4 pts in 12 minutes off the bench and Mitchell Robinson had 6 points on 2-4 shooting and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes.
Knicks in TRANSITION
20 for RJ Barrett now pic.twitter.com/Wfwbk0mPTn
— KNICKS ON MSG (@KnicksMSGN) March 31, 2022
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