The Mikal Bridges idea that helped the Knicks turn around their third quarter woes

Mikal Bridges might have a future in coaching.

His idea helped immediately reverse the Knicks’ glaring third quarter woes.

After the Knicks’ Game 5 loss, Bridges suggested they come out of halftime with layup lines to avoid the third quarter lulls that had been plaguing them in the first five games of the series.

And they did just that during their 116-113 Game 6 — and series-clinching — win over the Pistons on Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena.

Like a high school team, the Knicks came out of the locker room earlier than usual and lined up in old-school layup lines after the break. And then they delivered one of their best quarters of the series — perhaps only behind the 21-0 run they went on in the fourth quarter of Game 1.

They outscored the Pistons, 37-24, in Thursday’s third quarter.

Mikal Bridges of the New York Knicks goes up for a shot as Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons defends during the third quarter. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

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“That’s his new name, ‘Layup Line ’Kal,’ ” Cam Payne said. “We get off to slow starts in the third [quarter]. … He’s trying to go ahead and close the series out. Before we walked out [of the locker room], he was like, ‘I need everyone out here to do these layups.’ But I respect that, I respect it. It got us going, we came out in the third and played well. That was big time. Everybody listened to him.”

Prior to Game 6, the Knicks had been outscored by 33 points (142-109) in third quarters in the first five games of the series.

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Thursday’s strong third quarter was followed by a brutal beginning of the fourth quarter, however, when the Knicks allowed the Pistons to go on a 20-2 run before saving themselves with an 11-1 run of their own to close the game.

Mikal Bridges of the New York Knicks goes up for a shot as Tim Hardaway Jr. of the Detroit Pistons rushes to defend during the first quarter. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

It was sort of a reversal of the majority of the series, where the Knicks had struggled in third quarters and played well in fourth quarters.

So, the fourth quarter Thursday can be looked at as an anomaly.

But they should try to learn as much as possible from their success in the third quarter and replicate it going forward.

“I would hope it was more about the desperation of being in a Game 6 in Detroit and less about the layup lines,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “We’ll figure out if that was the reason, but I hope it’s not about the layup lines.”