Mikal Bridges and the New York Knicks took a 2-0 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals series today. The Knicks defeated the Cavaliers 109-93, and the series now moves to Cleveland for Game 3.
Bridges, being one of the most dependable players in the league, added 19 points to his team's total, shooting 9 of 12 from the field with three rebounds, three assists, and a steal. He played 40 minutes without committing a single turnover.
After the game, the 29-year-old joined Charles Barkley and the rest of the Inside the NBA crew for a conversation. Sir Charles asked the last question to Bridges and caught him off guard for a few seconds.
"With all that great talent y'all had at Villanova, don't you think Jay Wright was overrated?" he asked.
Bridges played for the Villanova Wildcats from 2015 to 2018 under head coach Jay Wright. He coached the Wildcats from 2001 to 2022 and won two national titles with the team. Bridges' Knicks teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart also played for Villanova under Wright.
The Knicks guard defended his former coach against Chuck's "overrated" claim.
"Maybe Jalen is the only exception because Jalen was really cold coming into college. Everybody else, me especially, I had to redshirt, so that shows a lot. I couldn't get out there on the court my first year. So, shoutout to Coach Wright, got me to where I'm at right now," he said .
Even though Bridges and Barkley were laughing the whole time, Ernie Johnson apologized to the Knicks star for Chuck's comment. Sir Charles clarified that Wright is 'one of his boys,' so he's allowed to make these jokes.
Knicks forward Josh Hart led his team in scoring in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Cleveland. He scored 26 points, shooting 10 of 21 from the field, 5 of 11 from the three, and had four rebounds, seven assists, and two steals.
At the post-game press conference, Hart quoted his former Villanova coach to explain what analytics mean to him.
"I'm not a huge analytics guy," he said. "They are a lamp post to a drunk person. You can lean on them, but it won't take you home."
Hart said that he doesn't rely on or focus on analytics. He was ready to move on from that response, but Karl-Anthony Towns asked him to explain himself. Hart revealed that it was a quote from his former Villanova coach.
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