Mikal Bridges says the Knicks’ biggest comeback weapon was something simple: belief built on experience.
That showed up over and over during New York’s 2026 Playoff run, when the Knicks kept digging out of holes on the way to the franchise’s first championship in 52 years. They handled a Game 1 rally against the Cleveland Cavaliers, then authored the kind of turnaround that sticks forever with their Game 4 comeback in the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.
Bridges pointed to that shared history when talking about how the group kept itself steady in those moments. In an interview with Men's Health, he said:
"We had chances and opportunities where we’ve been in the same situation and succeeded. So it’s kind of having that faith of, ‘We’ve been here before.'
It’s still us. Still the same game.
Forty-eight minutes. Just having that same belief and knowing that it’s going to take just one possession at a time,"
He added:
"We’ve been here before. We’ve done it before.
You ain’t going to get it back in one possession. There’s still a lot of time left.
If we could be down 20 with 10 minutes left and have a chance, being down 27 with 24 minutes, we definitely have a chance."
That mindset mattered because the Knicks were tested plenty. After an underwhelming 2025-26 regular season, a veteran group that had mostly stayed together from the 2025 Playoffs - when they reached the Eastern Conference Finals - knew it had to be sharper when it counted.
Jalen Brunson’s leadership was pushed in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks, where New York fell behind 1-2 before turning the series around. The Knicks also had to claw back from huge deficits against other opponents, and Bridges said the team had the calm needed to ride those waves.
Now the title belongs to them, and the Knicks can look back on a run that was as turbulent as it was successful. The bigger lesson from the playoffs, though, is clear: when the pressure rises, this team seems to settle in.
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For a team trying to defend a title, that kind of early road test can say plenty about where the group stands, especially against a Celtics team that always seems to bring out the edge in this matchup. The calendar does not leave much room to settle in, and Boston will be one of the first places where the Knicks find out how much of last spring still carries over into a new season. [Read more 🡒]