SALT LAKE CITY — Mikal Bridges understood why he did not return to Saturday’s game.
The imported Knicks starter endured his roughest shooting game of the season, and he didn’t play over 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 in seven tries from 3, in 33 minutes. He sat in favor of veteran guard Cam Payne down the stretch.
“For sure, our biggest thing, obviously I was struggling, but our biggest thing is to win,” Bridges said after the game. “Cam came in and he was playing well. He was part of that team that was making 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 understand it. We’re trying to win a game, and that’s all I care about, so I think that was the right decision.”
Tom Thibodeau said that he stuck with Payne — who scored 11 points with five assists in 31 minutes off the bench — because he was bringing needed energy, especially during a 17-0 run that brought the Knicks within two late in the third quarter.
“I was just looking for anything that could get us going,” Thibodeau said. “And it wasn’t just Mikal. Cam I thought 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 get down like we did, you’re just searching for anything to get you going. That’s really what we were doing.”
Bridges, who was obtained from the Nets over the summer, entered Saturday’s game leading the NBA in playing time with 38.6 minutes per game.
His previous lowest scoring output was an eight-point effort against the Pacers on Nov. 10.