SALT LAKE CITY — Mikal Bridges understood why he didn’t return to Saturday’s game.

The imported Knicks starter endured his toughest shooting of the season, not playing over the final 10:03 of a 121-106 loss to the Jazz.

Bridges scored a season-low seven points on 3-for-15 shooting, including six misses on seven attempts from 3, in 33 minutes. He settled in favor of veteran guard Cam Payne further down the stretch.

“Definitely our biggest thing, obviously I struggled, but our biggest thing is to win,” Bridges said after the game. “Cam came in and he played well. He was part of the team that made that run.
“I was more frustrated that I couldn’t be there to help the team and frustrated that I couldn’t really do much in the first three quarters. But yeah, I understand. We’re trying to win a game and that’s all I care about, so I think that was the right decision.”

Tom Thibodeau said he stuck with Payne — who scored 11 points with five assists in 31 minutes off the bench — because he brought needed energy, especially during a 17-0 run that pulled the Knicks within two points late in the third quarter.

“I was just looking for something to help us along the way,” Thibodeau said. “And it wasn’t just Mikal. I thought Cam came in and he gave us a big spark. I almost went back to Jericho (Sims) at the end because I thought his minutes were good for us too. When you go down, like we did, you just look for something to help you along. That’s basically what we were doing.”

Bridges, acquired from the Nets last summer, entered Saturday’s game leading the NBA in playing time with 38.6 minutes per game.

His previous lowest score was an eight-point effort against the Pacers on November 10.