The streak lives on — though on this day, Mikal Bridges couldn’t wait to get off the floor.
Not even seven seconds after the ball tipped at Barclays Center in the season finale between Bridges’ former team (the Nets) and his current one (the Knicks), New York’s wing — the only Knicks starter on the floor on Sunday — committed an intentional foul.
Bridges immediately grabbed Brooklyn’s Tyrese Martin. Then he pointed at Miles McBride and grinned from cheek-to-cheek as he jogged past head coach Tom Thibodeau and went to the bench.
“I guess [Thibs] was okay with us being aggressive, pressuring the ball,” Bridges joked after the game.
Bridges logged six seconds and recorded no other stats but his one personal foul. In doing so, he continued his streak of consecutive games played without a miss.
Bridges has played every game of his NBA career — 82 with the Knicks, 109 with the Nets, and 355 with the Phoenix Suns. He didn’t miss a game during any of his three years at Villanova, either.
“Just trying to be available. Just for my team – trying to win as many games as possible and be out there for my team,” he said. “And I think we have a better chance [if I’m on the floor]. So just be out there as much as possible.”
But what’s the secret? Bridges was tight-lipped and didn’t go into much detail when asked for the ingredients to his secret sauce.
“I think it’s just a lot of everything,” he said. “The lifts and the treatment and stuff like that. Put in a lot. Just try to stick to what works.”
Bridges said the team asked whether or not he wanted to play in Sunday’s season finale given Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart and Mitchell Robinson all sat against the Nets.
He said he opted against staying on the floor any longer than needed in order to give his younger teammates more experience in an NBA game.
“I could play a quarter, play a half. But that would take away from young guys – Pac [Pacome Dadiet] and Kev [Kevin McCullar Jr]. For their minutes to come up there. Landry [Shamet] coming out there, playing more. So it’s more just taking minutes away from them versus – I took a lot of minutes all 81 [games] prior, so just give them guys a chance, give them a chance to play and play the right way.”
Bridges joined a list of 14 players who have appeared in all 82 games this season. On that list, former perennial All-Star Chris Paul (39) is the oldest.
Bridges would need to play 11 more seasons, then play in every game, to tie Paul as the oldest player to ever record a perfect NBA attendance record.
Is he up to the challenge?
“I don’t know. That’s why CP is one of the greatest,” said Bridges. “But I don’t think I’ll make it that long.”
SCOUTING THE ROOKS
The Knicks selected Pacome Dadiet with the 25th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, but the rookie spent most of the season on G-League assignment with the Westchester Knicks. In 11 early minutes against the Nets on Sunday, Dadiet shot one-of-three from the field for four points and became a frequent target for a Nets offense that scored at will with the rookie guarding the ball.
Kevin McCullar Jr., on the other hand, saw 22 minutes of action in the season finale. McCullar, who the Knicks selected 56th in last year’s draft, logged eight rebounds, four points, two assists, a steal and a block. The ...
