CLEVELAND — Miles McBride never left the game.
With an unpredictable status in the rotation and two new acquisitions who play his position, McBride needs to take advantage of each opportunity.
And none were bigger — at least minutes-wise — than Sunday’s.
After Jalen Brunson went out with a contused knee, McBride entered at point guard and logged 47-plus minutes, helping navigate the offense in a 107-98 Knicks victory.
He also was the main defender on former All-Star Darius Garland, who was held to 19 points in 40 minutes.
McBride finished with 16 points and five assists with zero turnovers.
“He was running around with Darius Garland,” Josh Hart said. “And if Garland wasn’t in the game, he was running around with [Max] Strus and [Sam] Merrill. So that speaks volumes to his conditioning, his competitiveness, his tenacity. At the end of the day, once you’re in it, that competitive nature really kinda just takes over. He had that. For him to play 47 minutes straight — it’s absurd.”
Added Donte DiVincenzo on McBride’s load, “He’s got them young legs.”
McBride, who buried the dagger trey in the final minute, said he was still fresh postgame.
“I feel fine honestly. That’s what I put in the offseason work for. I prepare my body for this,” he said. “You never know what’s going to happen. [Brunson] should be fine hopefully, but got to be ready for anything.”
Assuming Brunson returns from his knee injury in the near future, McBride will have another threat to his spot coming shortly.
With point guard Shake Milton on his way via free agency, the Knicks are getting a fifth guard for a nine-man rotation — one that could be cut to an eight-man rotation once the playoffs start.
“I really try not to worry about it,” McBride said. “I think I can just do what I can do, work as hard as I can. If my name is called, my name is called. Anything else really just doesn’t affect me.”
McBride, one of just three homegrown draft picks still on the roster, has been coach Tom Thibodeau’s default option amid the wave of Knicks injuries.
It translated to drastic improvements in shooting percentage, which was up to nearly 40 percent on 3s from McBride heading into Sunday’s contest against the Cavaliers.
McBride, 23, said Sunday he knew the boost was coming. Last season, McBride leapfrogged Derrick Rose and Evan Fournier for minutes.
“I definitely felt coming into this year, just understanding the NBA game a little bit more, knowing where I’m going to get my shots,” McBride, arguably the Knicks’ top perimeter defender, said. “I felt like coming into this year I was going to make a big stride.”
