What’s wrong with Mikal Bridges? New Knicks star stumbles then recovers with jump shot in season debut

The New York Knicks spent an enormous amount of draft capital on Mikal Bridges this offseason, hoping he would be the 3-and-D addition that makes them a championship contender. One game in, that “3” looks like a work in progress.

Bridges had a debut to forget against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, as did the rest of the Knicks in a 132-109 loss to the defending champions. After one of the most eventful offseasons in recent NBA history, New York was overwhelmed at the 3-point line to a historic degree.

After one half, Bridges’ 3-point shot looked like the bigger disaster. He was 0 for 5 from the field and 0 for 4 from 3-point range, and none of those shots looked close. The panic sirens were loud, but he managed to provide some silver linings by going 7 of 8 from the field and 2 of 3 from deep with the game all but decided throughout the second half.

Bridges finished the night 7 of 13 from the field (2 of 7 from deep) for 16 points, plus two assists, one turnover and no rebounds. The Knicks were outscored by 33 points when he was on the floor.

It could have been a lot worse, but Bridges got better. The only question is if that means his jump shot is fixed, or if the Knicks have a whole lot more to worry about the guy they acquired for a superstar-level price tag.

Mikal Bridges had jump-shot struggles before Knicks opener

Bridges struggling early in his Knicks debut wasn’t a surprise for people who have been following his training camp and preseason. His jump shot went lightly viral on the first day of Knicks camp, when a video spread showing a tortured shot that involved him pulling the ball up and behind his head before his release.

The thing is, Bridges has always had an unconventional jump shot. Just looking at his highlight reel from last year shows a form with a hitch and a high release point. It is that hitch that led Bridges to try to rework his jump shot, via the New York Post:

Unfortunately, Bridges might have just been meddling with something that worked. Bridges has quietly been one of the better shooters in the NBA since developing that hitch, shooting 38.2% from deep across that span and never worse than 36% in a season. He made exactly as many 3-pointers as Damian Lillard last season, in fewer attempts.

The initial results after the tweak were… unfortunate. Bridges went 2 for 19 from 3-point range in four preseason games, capped off by an 0-for-10 performance against the Wizards.

And then, a goose egg in the first half Tuesday night. It would be wildly overreacting to call him a bust now, but you can’t blame Knicks fans for still feeling uneasy about his place on a team that got the daylights beaten out of it to open the season.