The Knicks sat Mikal Bridges for most of the second half, and his fantasy managers should wait rather than drop him

"We just found a combination we went with," Mike Brown said after the Knicks' 133-127 win in Chicago on Wednesday, which is as much as he offered on why Mikal Bridges spent all but three minutes of the second half on the bench, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. Bridges finished with three points on 1-of-4 shooting in 13 minutes, without a rebound, assist, steal or block, and Heavy's Billy Heyen reported no injury and wrote that he sat for the rest of the game after coming out with 8:09 left in the third quarter. The reserves who took his minutes, Tyler Kolek, Jordan Clarkson and Landry Shamet, combined for 41 points and 15 assists, Bondy wrote, while Jalen Brunson led New York with 38 points, according to ESPN's recap.

Bridges' fantasy case has always rested on availability rather than ceiling, since he played all 82 games last season and our projections expect 80 again, and a player whose value is his minutes is the one a benching hurts most. The decision for his managers is whether one night is a demotion, and on the evidence so far it is not yet one, though the shooting that prompted it is real and worth a closer look.

Every player in this story is on the fantasy basketball rankings and the 2026-27 projections, and the NBA depth charts show where each one stands in his team’s rotation tonight.