Knicks notes: Bridges, Payne, McBride, Defense, Thibodeau

Poor shooting has been a problem too Michael Bridges ever since he took office Knicksand on Saturday it kept him on the bench for almost the entire fourth quarter of a loss at Utah, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post. Bridges did not play in the final 10 minutes of the game after going 3-of-15 from the field and 1-of-7 from three-point range. It continued a difficult season in which he is posting .469/.304/.636 hitting splits.

“Obviously I struggled, but our biggest thing is to win,” Bridges said. “(Cameron Payne) came in and he played well. He was part of the team that made that run. I was more just frustrated that I couldn’t be out there to help the team and frustrated that the first three quarters I was out there I couldn’t really do much. But yeah, I get it. We’re trying to win a game and that’s all I care about, so I think it was the right decision.”

Coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters he chose to keep Payne in the game because he brought energy to the team, especially during a 17-0 run in the third quarter that nearly erased a large deficit. Payne ended up playing 31 minutes off the bench and finished with 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.

“I was just looking for something to get us going,” Thibodeau said. “And it wasn’t just Mikal. Cam thought I was coming in and he gave us a big spark. I almost went back to Jericho (Sims) in the end because I also thought his minutes were good for us. When you come down like we did, you just look for anything to get you going. That’s really what we did.”

There’s more on the Knicks:

• Miles McBride was upgraded to questionable Saturday, but still missed his fifth straight game, Botte adds in a separate history. The team is now calling his injury “patella femoral syndrome,” which is more commonly known as “runner’s knee.” “He’s out,” Thibodeau said before the game. “He’s close. He’s doing more, but he’s not quite there. We’ll see where he is tomorrow.”
• The Knicks were disappointed that their defense couldn’t save them on a generally poor shooting night, per Steve Popper of The New York Post. They built a strong defensive reputation last season but haven’t been able to reach the same level so far. “We’ve struggled on the defensive end all season,” Josh Hart said. “When you don’t make shots and you don’t play well defensively, it’s a recipe for disaster. We’ve got to figure it out on the defensive end. Offensively, we have enough talent on the offensive end to play well and win games even if certain guys don’t come that day. But we’ve got to figure it out defensively.”
• Thibodeau has been a fiery coach throughout his career, but he has never been fired, according to James L. Edwards of Athleticwho talks to several refs about what it’s like to handle Thibodeau during a game.