BOSTON — Bojan Bogdanovic is getting comfortable, boosting the offense in his minutes and solidifying his spot in the playoff rotation.
After struggling mightily to start his Knicks stint, Bogdanovic has scored at least 12 points in six of his past 10 games — including an efficient 14 during Thursday’s win over the Celtics.
He said confidence was never an issue after being traded from the Pistons in February, but the adjustment to the new role and bench took time.
“I’ve been confident, even with a lot of ups and downs that I’ve had with the Knicks,” Bogdanovic said. “I’m feeling more comfortable in my role right now. Kind of adjusting a little bit because it’s not the same. I’ve been a starter for 10 years, but here going into the playoffs, I hope that I’m starting to play way better and keep my level up.”
It’s a great sign for the Knicks, who are one win away from clinching at least third in the East and need a scoring boost to complement Jalen Brunson’s minutes.
“A trade is a tough thing to go through,” OG Anunoby said. “Every day [Bogdanovic] is just getting more comfortable doing what he does.”
It’s a different story for Alec Burks, who was traded with Bogdanovic in the same package from Detroit.
Burks logged his third straight healthy DNP on Thursday.
Mikal Bridges continues to flirt with the Knicks.
Brooklyn’s best player, who has to watch his former Villanova teammates surge into the playoffs while the Nets head to the draft lottery (without their own pick), took a lie detector test with Josh Hart as part of a promotion with Chipotle.
Hart asked, “Would you ever want me as a teammate again,” to which Bridges answered enthusiastically, “Yes.”
It would’ve been an innocuous comment except Hart has been busting Bridges’ chops a lot lately about being sad he can’t play on the Knicks.
Hart, Bridges, Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo won an NCAA championship together with the Wildcats in 2016.
Despite all the hints and flirtations, it’s unlikely the Nets would entertain trading Bridges to their crosstown rivals. The forward is signed through the 2025-26 season.
The Knicks have two potential candidates for Most Improved Player.
Brunson, who finished third in the category last year, entered Thursday with upticks in points per game (from 24 to 28.4) and assists (6.2 to 6.7).
But the more deserving is probably DiVincenzo, who led the East in 3-pointers made. His minutes only increased by about two from last season with the Warriors, but his points jumped from 9.4 per game to 15.4 and he was shooting at a better percentage.
DiVincenzo added 17 more points on Thursday.