Mikal Bridges tied his career-high with seven 3-pointers and scored a season-high 31 points on Sunday night, leading the New York Knicks to a 118-85 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Bridges had previously made seven 3-pointers in a game twice, most recently for the Brooklyn Nets against the Chicago Bulls on March 29.
Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 14 points and 19 rebounds for the Knicks, who took control of the game with a 23-1 run in the first quarter. New York held a lead of at least 20 points for more than 37 minutes.
Jalen Brunson scored 16 points, Miles McBride added 13 points off the bench, and Josh Hart, a starter, chipped in with 12 points. This was New York’s largest victory since a 145-101 win over the Toronto Raptors on March 27.
CJ McCollum led the Pelicans with 13 points, but New Orleans has now lost eight straight games and 14 of their last 15. Trey Murphy III and Yves Missi each scored 11 points, and Dejounte Murray added 10 points.
This was the second time this season that the Pelicans lost by 30 or more points.
The Pelicans briefly took the lead at 3-2 after Murphy hit a 3-pointer early in the game. However, the Knicks then went on a 12-0 run while the Pelicans missed 14 straight shots over nearly nine minutes. Bridges finished the run with 11 unanswered points.
By the end of the first quarter, the Knicks led 33-10 and kept a lead of at least 21 points in the second quarter. At halftime, they were up 57-28. The Pelicans cut the deficit to 27 points twice in the third quarter, but Brunson hit a 3-pointer with 5:10 left to give New York a 30-point lead at 81-51.
Bridges opened the fourth quarter with another 3-pointer, giving the Knicks their first 40-point lead at 96-56. New York cleared the bench shortly after and kept their lead between 33 and 41 points for the rest of the game.
