Perhaps the best indication of what’s important for these Knicks — or what’s most relevant to their status as either contenders or pretenders — was the theme of Wednesday night’s postgame locker room interviews.

While the Knicks have yielded positive results from wingers Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby this season, there's reason to believe both players would benefit from an adjusted team strategy.

Mikal Bridges led the Knicks with 28 points and had a wild plus-43 in Monday night’s 143-106 win over Memphis at Madison Square Garden. But perhaps his most important contribution came on defense, as he helped shut down Grizzlies star Ja Morant, who scored just 10 points on 5-for-13 shooting in the rout.

Young finished with a team-high 27 points but shot an inefficient 8-of-22 from the field. He turned the ball over nine times to just six assists, his decision-making troubles exacerbated under the pressure Bridges applied from the opening tip.

Knicks captain Jalen Brunson lamented the team's poor start and lack of physicality in the loss to Minnesota. OG Anunoby thought it boiled down to "they made shots and we didn't." in the fourth quarter while Mikal Bridges simply stated: "We have to be better.

The Knicks have hovered around the middle of the pack in points allowed per possession all season, but Anunoby is the group’s backbone. New York doesn’t play with a conventional rim protector. Instead it’s on him, along with the other two starting wings, Bridges and Josh Hart, to lock down the perimeter.

Reduced to mere spectators for metropolitan dominance, the Grizzlies (31-16) endured their worst loss of the season. Paced by 21 points from Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis has a chance for a revenge when the Knicks come by on Feb. 28.

This version of Mikal Bridges looks nothing like the one Brooklyn traded away, but his revamped role could be the key to New York ascending in the East.

OG Anunoby scored a team-high 33 points, helping lead the New York Knicks to 143-120 win over the visiting Sacramento Kings on Saturday. Mikal Bridges added 27 points, Jalen Brunson had 25 points ...

NEW YORK (AP) OG Anunoby scored 33 points ... New York Knicks beat the Sacramento Kings 143-120 on Saturday night. Mikal Bridges had 27 points and Jalen Brunson finished with 25 points and ...

Though the Kings star is making his future intentions clear, he's doing so while giving Sacramento a chance to fully evaluate the market.

On Wednesday, Tom Thibodeau's team beat the Nuggets, 122-112, to extend their winning streak to five. It was their third consecutive win against a team above .500 after they crushed the Grizzlies and Kings in back-to-back routs with a combined victory margin of 60 points.