Mikal Bridges receives much-deserved praise from Mike Brown after a rough series originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

After a couple of stumbles in the series, the New York Knicks are through th to the second round after trouncing the Atlanta Hawks in Game 6. It was a cathartic performance for the Knicks as they finally got past a plucky underdog team like the Hawks.

Aside from that, it was also a landmark performance from Mikal Bridges. As a player who struggled really hard in the series, Bridges' performance in Game 6 was quite welcome, which led head coach Mike Brown to celebrate his player.

Mikal Bridges gets deserved praise from Mike Brown

For the longest time, Bridges has been the NBA's most consistently available player. He has never missed an NBA game in his career, and he's nearing a decade in the league. At the same time, he has been superb as a role player for all the teams he has played for.

Unfortunately, Bridges has struggled as of late, especially on the offensive end. Considering he plays for the Knicks, the spotlight is on him. The criticism was at an all-time high earlier in the series against the Hawks, but thankfully, he redeemed himself in the closeout game.

MORE: Mitchell Robinson had one of his best performances before getting ejected in Game 6

During the Game 6 blowout, Bridges had a pleasant time with his 24 points. It was his most efficient performance of the series, as he made 10 of his 12 attempts from the field. This led head coach Mike Brown to praise his starting wing, which is a huge morale boost for Bridges and the team.

"It was great. He just did what he's capable of doing. Is he gonna go 10-12 every night? No, but he was aggressive. He took great shots. I wouldn't let it go unnoticed that his defense was phenomenal. Not only was his defense phenomenal, but rebounding," Brown said after the Game 6 victory about Bridges.

Moving forward, Bridges himself acknowledges that he has struggled in the series. He is ready to prove that he will keep playing with everything he has. Game 6 was particularly motivating, considering he was finally on the winning side of a massive blowout in the Playoffs.

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