New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges knew what the Atlanta Hawks were going through when his team was blowing them out Thursday night.
The Knicks obliterated the Hawks 140-89 to close out their Eastern Conference first-round series, at one point running up a 61-point lead. Bridges was asked after the game if he had ever been part of such a one-sided contest.
Calmly, Bridges reminded the reporter that he had once been on the other side of an infamous playoff blowout.
“Yeah, when I was in Phoenix and I lost,” Bridges said.
Q: Do you remember the last time you were part of such a one sided game like this?
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) May 1, 2026
Mikal: "Yeah when I was in Phoenix and I lost"
That you laughing @joshhart? lol pic.twitter.com/cwXTvGF7vO
Bridges is alluding to Game 7 of the 2022 Western Conference Semifinals, in which his Suns lost 123-90 to the Dallas Mavericks. That game spawned the infamous “Chris Paul hits a huge three to cut the lead down to 42” meme. Ironically, the Hawks used that to troll the Suns in 2023, which they might be regretting now.
Bridges took a lot of heat for his performance early in the series when the Knicks fell behind 2-1. No wonder he would have felt a great deal of relief by the turnaround, especially after he wound up contributing 24 points in the series clincher.
