Just four seasons ago, in 2021-22, the New York Knicks missed the postseason entirely with a roster that featured notable draft busts Cam Reddish and Kevin Knox and had Evan Fournier as its third-leading scorer. The fact that, four years later, the Knicks are playing like true contenders is nothing short of a miracle. Leon Rose, who took over as the team’s General Manager in March 2020, has made savvy moves to completely re-tool New York’s roster and deliver a championship-quality side to the Basketball Mecca.
One of those moves occurred in the 2024 offseason, when Rose flipped Bojan Bogdanović, Mamadi Diakite, Shake Milton, and five first-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Mikal Bridges. 17 months after the blockbuster deal — the first between the cross-town rivals since 1983 — Bridges is now an integral member of a core that could secure the Knicks’ first trophy since since 1972-73 when they face the San Antonio Spurs for the Emirates NBA Cup tonight.
The game will begin at 8:40 p.m. ET at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
New York is a 2.5-point favorite for tonight’s game at DraftKings Sportsbook, with the total set to 233.5. Below, I’ve highlighted my favorite prop bet centered around Bridges.
Best Mikal Bridges Prop Bet on DraftKings Sportsbook
Mikal Bridges 2+ Steals (+101)
Bridges has always been a solid on-ball defender, even finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2021-22 for the Phoenix Suns, but this season, he’s stepped up his defense even more, averaging a career-high 1.9 steals per game and posting a 2.2 defensive box plus/minus, good for seventh in the league. He and OG Anunoby have been the linchpins of a Knicks defense that has ranked second in defensive rating across the last 10 games, and though he’s cooled down somewhat after a torrid stretch of 12 two-steal games in a row, he’s still an on-ball pest with a seven-foot-one wingspan and a high IQ.
The young Spurs have had some issues with turnovers, allowing the ninth-most steals per game across the first 12 games of the season, and though they improved somewhat to the fifth-fewest across the next 12 games with Victor Wembanyama out, the gigantic Frenchman now mans the middle once again. Even in San Antonio’s upset over the Oklahoma City Thunder to advance to the cup final, it coughed up 19 turnovers, with Wembanyama recording five in 21 minutes on the court and Stephon Castle giving up six, and individually, Castle ranks second and Wembanyama fifth in turnovers per game. Bridges probably won’t guard Wembanyama much, but he’ll likely be the primary point-of-attack defender against Castle, who’s committed 19 lost-ball turnovers in just 16 games this season.
