Mikal Bridges‘ consecutive games played streak reached 638 in Sunday’s season finale in opposition to the Charlotte Hornets, after the New York Knicks wing played all of 23 seconds earlier than leaving the eventual 110-96 loss.
Bridges was the one Knicks starter to play within the recreation with the Eastern Conference’s third seed secured this previous week. Coach Mike Brown mentioned earlier than the sport he would enable the guard to play lengthy sufficient solely to increase the streak, and reserve Jordan Clarkson was already strolling to the scorer’s desk to interchange him even earlier than the opening bounce ball.
Bridges dedicated a foul to cease play with the Knicks on protection throughout the first possession of the sport.
Bridges mentioned he does not go right into a season feeling that he has to play 82 games, however simply does not prefer to miss any.
“I think I just try to pray for good health and do whatever it takes to be healthy and just try to be out there,” he mentioned.
Bridges’ streak is the eighth longest in NBA historical past, practically 50 games behind former Knick Harry Gallatin. The present file holder is A.C. Green, whose streak of 1,192 games stretched throughout 15 seasons.
“It’s crazy because load management is a real term,” Brown mentioned earlier than the sport. “And that’s something that’s thought of by everybody, not just the medical performance group but by coaches, by individual players, by agents, by family members, and people get pushed to take time off for whatever reason. And so for a guy like that to be at the number he’s at in consecutive games played speaks volumes.”
The NBA Cup remaining that the Knicks gained does not rely within the statistics, in any other case Bridges would have been credited with enjoying 83 games in an 82-game season for the second time in 4 years. He played 56 games with Phoenix in 2022-23 earlier than he was dealt to Brooklyn within the commerce for Kevin Durant, then appeared in the entire Nets’ remaining 27 games.
He prolonged the streak on the finish of that season by enjoying 4 seconds within the regular-season finale, and played six seconds within the remaining recreation of the 2024-25 season.
There have been 18 gamers who went into the ultimate day of the common season having played each recreation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
