Knicks’ Mikal Bridges benched almost the entire fourth quarter due to poor shooting

SALT LAKE CITY — Mikal Bridges understood why he didn’t return to Saturday’s game.

The imported Knicks starter endured his toughest shooting game of the season, sitting out the final 10:03 of a 121-106 loss to the Jazz.

Bridges scored a season-low seven points on 3-for-15 shooting, including six misses on seven attempts from 3, in 33 minutes. He sat in favor of veteran guard Cam Payne down the stretch.

“Obviously, our biggest thing, obviously I struggled, but our biggest thing is winning,” Bridges said after the game. “Cam 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 fight and that’s all I care about, so I think it was the right decision.”

Tom Thibodeau said he kept Payne — who scored 11 points with five assists in 31 minutes off the bench — because he provided needed energy, especially during a 17-0 run that brought the Knicks within two late in the third quarter .

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

Bridges, who was acquired from the Nets over the summer, entered Saturday’s game leading the NBA in playing time at 38.6 minutes per game. match.

His previous low was an eight-point effort against the Pacers on Nov. 10.