It was a good look, mind you. It was an open shot near the sideline.
But it was the wrong shooter. Mikal Bridges had been, to that point, a passive observer of the offense, a defense-first guard who combined for 18 attempts in the first two playoff games. There was nothing to suggest Bridges could win the game for the Knicks, and, just like in Game 2 of the first round against Detroit a year ago, he didn’t.
Bridges missed the potential game-winner of Monday’s 107-106 choke-job defeat, hitting the side of the rim — it was way off, actually — reopening those recent wounds inflicted by Tyrese Haliburton and Aaron Nesmith.
The problem, as it unfolded in front of a stunned Garden crowd, is that it should’ve never come down to that Bridges shot at the buzzer.