Knicks: Why has Mikal Bridges struggled to find a rhythm offensively?

New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges continues to have a strange season to evaluate. While he has done his job by being available and providing a regular impact, his role feels very undefined on the offensive front, and it is really starting to show.

Knicks’ Mikal Bridges has been quiet offensively lately

Bridges once again couldn’t provide an offensive spark on Tuesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was aggressive with his shot, attempting 17 shots, but only converted six of them for 18 points, and only went 1-for-3 from three.

The performance followed a recent trend of awfully quiet offensive performances since the All-Star break. Against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, he drilled a clutch three-pointer late to propel the Knicks to a win, but only had eight points on 3-for-9 shooting before that basket.

He also scored only eight points in their blowout loss against the Detroit Pistons and 11 points in their comeback win over the Houston Rockets. While they aren’t asking him to be the first scoring option like he was on the Brooklyn Nets, the Knicks would certainly like more offense out of him.

New York dealt five first round picks to acquire Bridges two summers ago. That is a price tag that will always be attached to him until he performs up to that level of a return, and unfortunately he has not been able to do so.

Bridges is going through the motions

Last season, with Tom Thibodeau as his head coach, Bridges went through a lot of the same motions. Oftentimes, he was corner sitting and being largely uninvolved in the offensive scheme. In the first month of this season with Mike Brown as his head coach, things looked to be different.

Bridges was being more aggressive with his shot, and was shooting with great efficiency. It feels sudden that he went back to the bad habits of last season, where he was unwilling to take contact on drives to the basket and settling for low percentage mid-ranges and contested threes.

What exactly changed is unclear. Bridges has proven to have the skillset needed to elevate this Knicks team, but something is off. Whether its scheme, confidence, or a combination of several different factors, New York needs Bridges to step up his game.

Bridges becoming a better offensive player would change a lot for a Knicks team that has struggled to find consistency throughout the season. For the Knicks to be a serious threat, Bridges has to assert some dominance on the court.