BOSTON — Knicks sixth man Miles McBride is looking to turn the page after a cold-shooting first-round series against the Detroit Pistons.
“Just keep shooting with confidence. Keep trusting my work,” he said after morning shootaround at TD Garden ahead of Game 1 against the Celtics on Monday. “That’s pretty much it.”
McBride shot just 26 percent from the field and from three across six games in Round 1. He scored eight points on 2-of-4 shooting from deep in the Knicks’ Game 2 loss but didn’t reach more than five points in any other game. He said his struggles had nothing to do with the groin injury that kept him out late in the regular season.
“Nah,” McBride said. “Just continue to take the right shots and trust my work.” Asked whether he’s happy with the looks he’s getting, he added: “Yeah. I feel like they’re all shots I’m capable of making. Teammates are doing a great job of finding me. I just gotta knock ’em down.”
McBride played a key role in the regular season as the first guard off the bench, providing pressure defense at the point of attack while averaging a career-high 9.5 points and shooting 37 percent from three.
His scoring jumped to 11 points per game in last year’s playoff run, in part due to extended minutes after injuries reshaped the rotation. This year, McBride has averaged just 3.8 points through six games. The Knicks are going to need more — not just from McBride, but from a bench unit that has lagged behind all postseason.
New York ranked last in the league in bench scoring during the regular season. Through Round 1, only the Los Angeles Lakers averaged fewer points off the bench — and the Knicks had a seven-point gap between themselves and the next lowest team, the Orlando Magic.
“Honestly, whoever coach calls upon, we’re gonna step in and get the job done,” McBride said. “So we’re just all focused on doing it together as a team.”
The Celtics, meanwhile, feature newly crowned Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard, who averaged 14.3 points on 40.7 percent shooting from deep this season. Pritchard scored 25 points on 6-of-8 shooting from three in Boston’s Feb. 8 win over the Knicks and enters Round 2 as a key piece of Boston’s rotation. He averaged about 10 points per game against the Knicks during the regular season.
The matchup between McBride and Pritchard — both first guards off the bench — could be a swing factor.
“He’s a great player, has done great things this season,” McBride said. “Defending champs, and it’s a tough matchup for anybody. But we’re gonna do it as a team. No matchup is individual. We’re gonna do everything together.”
McBride averaged 9.3 points and 1.5 steals across four regular-season games against Boston.
Originally Published: May 5, 2025 at 2:45 PM EDT
