Knicks’ Mikal Bridges aces ‘really hard’ task of shutting down Brandon Ingram

Mikal Bridges tried to be humble, claiming he didn’t do a great job guarding Brandon Ingram.

But then Miles McBride chimed in from the locker next to him, praising Bridges’ effort.

“You did great,” McBride said.

That was a more accurate representation of Bridges’ showing.

Ingram has been a central reason the Raptors have been one of the NBA’s surprise teams of the season.

But he had more turnovers than made field goals Sunday night during the Knicks’ 116-94 win at Madison Square Garden.

Bridges was at the heart of it.

He primarily matched up against Ingram and held him to just 14 points on 4-for-11 shooting from the field.

There’s been just two games this year in which Ingram scored fewer than 14 points.

He also had five turnovers Sunday and was a game-worst minus-22.

“Guys like Ingram, it’s really hard to quote-unquote ‘shut them off,’ ” coach Mike Brown said. “For us, we always talk about, it’s five guys guarding the basketball. Mikal was at the point of attack against Ingram, and he did a hell of a job.”

Ingram entered Sunday averaging a team-high 21.9 points.

Normally, he would be an assignment for OG Anunoby, the Knicks’ best defender who almost always matches up with opponents’ best scorers.

But with him sidelined due to a hamstring injury, Bridges has taken on that task recently.

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He’s had mixed results in that role.

But during their current four-game winning streak, Bridges has been more consistent, recording nine steals and six blocks.

“Just trying to do whatever to help my team win,” Bridges said. “That’s pretty much it. Just trying to be in the shifts, trying to make a play on the ball, try to help my teammates out.”

Bridges’ ability to keep opponents in front of him and out of the paint has been key to the Knicks’ improved team defense as a whole.

It also sets a tone for his teammates to follow.

“To hold a group like this to 94 points speaks a lot about us defensively tonight,” Brown said. “You’re not going to do this to the Raptors night in and night out. Our physicality without fouling while getting back in transition was huge for us.”