Mikal Bridges ' basketball skills were not their best on Monday, so he relied on his football knowledge instead to make the game-saving play in the New York Knicks ' 108-105 overtime victory against the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their second-round series.

On that pivotal play, Bridges looked like a cornerback tracking the ball, ripping it from Brown’s hands as soon as he caught the pass. After the game, he was asked how he managed to make that impressive defensive stop and he credited his football knowledge.

Mikal Bridges is the NBA’s iron man, but in the closing seconds of Monday’s Game 1 win, the Knicks forward embodied an NFL ballhawk.