Before the New York Knicks’ series-clinching Game 6 victory over the Detroit Pistons, bad third quarters were a running theme for them. In fact, entering Game 6, they had the lowest third quarter net rating out of any playoff team this year.
Knicks’ Mikal Bridges made great halftime suggestion after third quarter struggles
Mikal Bridges made a perhaps unorthodox suggestion to help with it. Layup lines. His suggestion was made in an attempt to keep the Knicks’ focused coming out of halftime, and it was unclear if they would follow that method.
Well, they did, and it worked. During the halftime break in Game 6, the team came out much earlier than usual and did layup lines. What followed was their best third quarter of the series thus far, out scoring them 37-24.
That third quarter would prove to be pivotal as the Knicks thwarted the Pistons’ fourth quarter comeback to defeat them 116-113 and advance to the second round. Perhaps they should do those more often during the halftime break.
The suggestion seemed to have helped Bridges himself too
“That’s his new name, ‘Layup Line ’Kal,’ ” Cam Payne said, via Jared Schwartz of the New York Post. “We get off to slow starts in the third [quarter]. … He’s trying to go ahead and close the series out. Before we walked out [of the locker room], he was like, ‘I need everyone out here to do these layups.’ But I respect that, I respect it. It got us going, we came out in the third and played well. That was big time. Everybody listened to him.”
The layup lines seemed to have helped Bridges himself as well, as he had his best game of the postseason in Game 6. He scored 25 points on 11-for-16 shooting from the floor and made a positive impact all around.
Bridges’ suggestion was a great showing of leadership to a team that needed to find something to shake them out of their third quarters lulls. Perhaps they have now found what can help them stay composed.