BOSTON — The Knicks entered the postseason with a game plan that only a few would admit to, but some in the locker room later acknowledged — hang close until the final minutes and then watch as the magic begins. The magic? Jalen Brunson showing time and time again why he is referred to as "Captain Clutch" just as much as he is his given name.

When the New York Knicks traded five first-round picks and a first-round pick swap to acquire Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets, last night’s performance was exactly what they had in mind.

Mikal Bridges finds solace in front of a television screen: a game controller gripped by his gangly fingers, a headset sitting on his waves and his best friend in the NBA in his ear. For months, Bridges and Knicks teammate Cam Payne had been playing the recently resurrected College Football 25.