Jalen Brunson bails out Knicks as Mikal Bridges bottoms out against lowly Hornets

The Knicks should’ve had a great deal on Black Friday against a battered, bottom-dwelling opponent. 

Instead, they paid full retail price for a 99-98 victory, a performance that required a fourth-quarter comeback as the team’s top disappointment Mikal Bridges watched most of it from the bench.

Jalen Brunson led the late charge with 11 of his 31 points in the final period, including the foul shots with 8.6 seconds left that iced it for the Knicks (11-8).

But it shouldn’t have been that close.

The Hornets (6-13) were rolling with a skeleton crew due to injuries, with LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, among other regulars, inactive.

Their starting lineup resembled a G League outfit with Vasilije Micic, Moussa Diabate and Tidjane Salaun. 

Yet, they led for most of the game and had a chance for a go-ahead trey from Cody Martin that bounced off the rim 21 seconds left. 

Bridges, the symbol of Knicks struggles to start the season, probably had his worst outing, logging 37 minutes with suspect defense and just eight points on 3-of-10 shooting. 

He was removed with 8:25 remaining and the Knicks trailing by six.

He only returned for three defensive possessions – and was quickly taken out again so somebody else could play offense.

His sub, Miles McBride (14 points, 5 rebounds, 26 minutes), effectively played the remainder as the Knicks took the lead and squeaked out the win to remain undefeated in the NBA Cup. 

The winner of New York’s Group A will be determined by Tuesday’s contest against Orlando. 

Friday started poorly for Tom Thibodeau’s squad. 

Two days after scoring a season-low 15 points in the first quarter of a defeat in Dallas, the Knicks did it again in Charlotte while finishing the first period with a 23-15 deficit. 

The Hornets deployed a switching defense, a strategy the Knicks have failed to crack this season.

The issues on Friday, similar to Wednesday, were the ball movement stopped as they tried to get Towns the ball in a mismatch against a smaller defender – an action that didn’t bear much fruit.   

The end of the first half was symbolic of the disappointment.

With 1.1 seconds remaining following a Hornets bucket, the Knicks only had to throw the ball into the ground to hit halftime.

Instead, Bridges threw a pass into the hands of Charlotte’s Josh Green, who buried a jumper at the buzzer for a 49-46 advantage. 

It was four points for Green in one second, with Bridges as the culprit. He wasn’t in the game for most of the fourth quarter to make that type of mistake.