Mike Brown sticks with starting Mikal Bridges but benches him down…
ATLANTA — Mike Brown started the game the same manner, protecting his starting unit intact.
But notably, he also ended the game the same solution to continue the rising concern round Mikal Bridges.
After acknowledging ahead of Game 4 that the Knicks had been contemplating shaking up the starting unit, Brown caught with his weapons and saved Bridges in the starting lineup.
Bridges recorded eight factors in 19 minutes in the Knicks’ 114-98 win over the Hawks on Saturday night time at State Farm Arena to even the sequence at 2-2.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker steals the ball from Mikal Bridgets during the Knicks’ 114-98 Game 4 win over the Hawks on April 25, 2026 in Atlanta. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“We’ve won a lot of games with the starting group,” Brown said. “I didn’t want to panic and just change anything. Obviously, we changed some stuff strategy-wise, but I didn’t want to change anything with the starting group because I didn’t feel a need to.”
If those 19 minutes appear odd for a starter, there’s a purpose for that. After Bridges checked out with 7:34 left in the third quarter, he was benched the remainder of the manner. Miles McBride was on the flooring in his place.
It mirrored the end of the Knicks’ Game 3 loss, when Bridges was benched — equally for McBride — for the overwhelming majority of the second half.
“At the end of the day, I just felt that [McBride] had it rolling,” Brown said. “They were gonna double Jalen [Brunson]. When they did, [McBride] hit some big 3s. So if a guy has it rolling, he may have a chance to stay out on the floor, that’s all it was.”
To start the playoffs, it appeared like Jose Alvarado was out of the playoff rotation. But he’s crept again in — and is making an influence.
Jose Alvarado is held again by Mike Brown after he bought right into a little bit of a dustup with Mouhamed Gueye in the first quarter of the Knicks’ 114-98 Game 4 win over the Hawks, forcing the Atlanta ahead right into a technical foul. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
He recorded six factors in 14 minutes Saturday.
He also introduced a little bit of his trademark snarl — soon after checking in for the first time at the end of the first quarter, he bought right into a little bit of a dustup with Mouhamed Gueye and compelled Gueye right into a technical foul.
His rise has come at the expense of Landry Shamet, whose struggles at the end of the common season bled into the starting of the playoffs.
Shamet, who only performed in rubbish time Saturday, appears to now be out of the rotation.
“He was huge,” Brown said of Alvarado. “He hit two big 3s. He was a guy that they were gonna leave open. He works very hard on his 3-point shooting. He took the right shots tonight. And then defensively, he tried to be a pest. What he did out on the floor for us gave us a huge lift, especially when Jalen was out.”
Brunson surpassed John Starks for the fourth-most whole factors in the playoffs in franchise historical past.
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