The NBA is a guard’s league, and defending the point of attack in today’s game is one of basketball’s toughest assignments. For the Knicks, that task falls to Mikal Bridges.

Josh Hart was traded for one first-round pick. Mikal Bridges, the spotlighted player Friday for the interborough rivalry game, cost the Knicks five.

Bridges had the final say by blocking Dennis Schroder’s attempted game-tying layup as time expired. He was mobbed by the Knicks (6-6) while his old team walked away. For Brunson, it was another defining moment in his Knicks tenure to save his team from a near collapse.

The offense has been spectacular, the defense has been anything but, and it has added up to a 6-6 record after Jalen Brunson hit a game-winner to defeat the Brooklyn Nets, 124-122 on Friday. New York didn't make it easy on itself.

Ashley Howard still remembers when Mikal Bridges used to hide in the bathroom. It’s how Bridges disrupted game days during his redshirt season at Villanova in 2014-15, when he and the assistant coach had the court to themselves about an hour before the rest of the team arrived.

Mikal Bridges had arguably the best game of his Knicks tenure so far on Friday against the Nets, capped by his game-saving block.

Karl-Anthony Towns' poor defense has been heavily scrutinized, but Mikal Bridges has been just as big of a problem on that end of the floor.