Knicks’ Mikal Bridges admits to tweaking form after concerning 3-point shooting during preseason

What’s wrong with Mikal Bridges? That’s the question many in the NBA world are asking after one of the New York Knicks‘ major offseason acquisitions went 0 of 10 from behind the arc in the team’s preseason finale against the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

Bridges is a career 37.5% shooter from downtown, and since his rookie season has never shot worse than 36.1%. Even as his 3-point attempts have increased, he’s remained efficient. Last season, he was at 37.2% on a career-high 7.2 attempts per game with the Brooklyn Nets. 

As he returned to the court ahead of his first season with the Knicks, however, there were concerns about what appeared to be a new hitch in his shot. It was clear in shooting drills as well as games. Even Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards seemed taken aback after Bridges took a free throw during their preseason tilt on Oct. 13. 

Bridges’ first few outings were strong enough overall that his poor shooting didn’t become a front page story, but his 0 of 10 disaster against the Wizards brought it to the fore. In four preseason contests, he shot 2 of 19 on 3-point attempts. 

Speaking to the media on Friday, he acknowledged tweaking his form. 

“Ever since I got into the league, been trying to fix it back to when I was in college,” Bridges said. “So it’s been seven years of just every day.

“When I came out of college, I kind of tweaked it a little bit. And then my second year in the league, I had the hitch, and tried to build back from that ever since. So just trying to get it right. Pretty much it.”

While Bridges has never had the smoothest shot, it has always been productive, and that’s what matters most. He has been especially impressive on catch-and-shoot opportunities. He took 5.6 catch-and-shoot 3s per game last season, which was the seventh-most in the league, and shot 38.4%. Among the players with at least that many attempts, he was the third-most efficient. And that was on the Nets, who weren’t good. There was no reason to mess around with his shot coming into this season when he figures to get more opportunities, and better ones, playing alongside Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. 

It’s still a bit early for panic stations, but this is a situation to monitor early in the season. Bridges becoming an unreliable shooter would be a real issue for the Knicks, who gave up five first-round picks to get him this summer.