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.

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 blockbuster trade that sent Mikal Bridges from Brooklyn to Broadway for five first-round draft picks, a second-rounder and a first-round pick swap felt like a seismic move that said a lot about the directions the two franchises were headed. The Knicks were going for it. The Nets were rebuilding again.

Mikal Bridges chose to focus on the positives when asked about his first matchup versus his former team, the Brooklyn Nets.

Bridges, who the Knicks acquired from the Nets in the summer for a boatload of draft picks, dropped an efficient 22 points in 41 minutes, easing the criticism, though certainly not shutting them up, about his rough start in Manhattan .

It was a first quarter for the ages for lightning rod Nets guard Cam Thomas, and an opening period from hell for a Knicks team that secured a 124-122 victory over their cross-bridge rival but is still working to shore its defensive processes after a notable pair of franchise-altering offseason moves.

During his time playing for the Nets, Bridges wore only jersey No. 1, and put up 21.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.0 steals per game.