Mikal Bridges has ‘very difficult’ job shutting down Raptors’ Brandon Ingram in Knicks win

Mikal Bridges tried to be humble and claimed he didn’t guard Brandon Ingram properly.

But then Miles McBride sounded from the locker next to him and praised Bridges’ effort.

“You did a great job,” McBride said.

That was a more accurate representation of Bridges’ display.

Ingram has been one of the main reasons the Raptors have been one of the NBA’s surprise teams of the season.

But he had made more turnovers than field goals in the Knicks’ 116-94 victory at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.

Bridges were at the heart of it.

He played mostly against Ingram, holding him to just 14 points on 4-for-11 shooting from the field.

There have only been two games this year where Ingram scored fewer than 14 points.

He also had five turnovers on Sunday and was a game-worst minus-22.

“Guys like Ingram, it’s really hard to quote and unquote ‘shut them down,’” coach Mike Brown said. “For us, what we always talk about, it’s five guys guarding the basketball. Mikal was at the point of the attack against Ingram, and he did a great job.”

Ingram entered Sunday averaging a team-high 21.9 points.

Normally, he would be an assignment for OG Anunoby, the Knicks’ best defenseman who is almost always aligned with the opponent’s best scorers.

But now sidelined with a hamstring injury, Bridges has recently taken on that role.

He has had mixed results in that role.

But during their current four-game winning streak, Bridges has been more consistent, with nine steals and six blocks.

“I just try to do whatever I can to help my team win,” Bridges said. “That’s about it. I just try to get into shifts, try to play the ball, try to help my teammates.”

Bridges’ ability to keep opponents in front of him and out of the paint has been crucial to the Knicks’ improved team defense as a whole.

It also sets a tone for his teammates to follow.

“To hold a group like this to 94 points tonight says a lot about us defensively,” Brown said. “You’re not going to do this to the Raptors night in and night out. Our physicality without fouling while we were back in transition was huge for us.”