MILWAUKEE — This is the Mikal Bridges the Knicks traded all those picks for.

They’d certainly like to keep seeing this version. 

In need of an alpha with Jalen Brunson still sidelined with his ankle injury, Karl-Anthony Towns in early foul trouble and OG Anunoby off to a quiet start, Bridges took over as the Knicks’ primary scorer.

He recorded 26 points in a 116-107 win over the Bucks on Friday night at Fiserv Forum, 15 of which came in a red-hot second quarter.

From there, the Knicks never looked back. 

Beyond elevating to the primary scorer, Bridges served as the de facto ball handler with Brunson, Miles McBride (groin) and Cam Payne (ankle) all injured.

Head coach Tom Thibodeau opted to start Delon Wright instead of Tyler Kolek, the only true point guard available, which prompted Bridges to handle the bulk of distributing duties.

Bridges filled the role admirably, finishing with five assists. 

In the 11 games without Brunson, Bridges is averaging 21.6 points. 

“He’s not really a specialist. He’s an all-around player,” Thibodeau said of Bridges. “He can go off the dribble. He can go pick-and-roll. He’s great in transition. He’s great moving without the ball. I like him in split games. I think he reads things extremely well, and he knows how to get to his spots, so his efficiency is very high.” 

For his own part, Wright chipped in a season-high 12 points in 30 minutes. 

Anunoby took the pressure off Bridges in the second half and took over late, pouring in 31 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter.

But it was Bridges’ second-quarter spark that helped the Knicks build a lead they never surrendered. 

“I always try to be aggressive,” Anunoby said. “Just depending on situations, sometimes it comes or sometimes it doesn’t. Just today, I was really aggressive.”

The win marked a rare strong showing against a quality opponent — the Knicks improved their record against teams over .500 to 12-18.

They also are 6-5 since Brunson went out, with Friday being their first win against a team over .500 in that stretch. 

The Bucks were without star Damian Lillard, however, who is dealing with deep vein thrombosis.

But they still had plenty of firepower available in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kyle Kuzma and Brook Lopez. 

Friday could be a potential playoff preview as well, with the Knicks sitting as the No. 3 seed in the East and the Bucks in sixth.

All the injuries mean both teams likely will look different by the postseason, but the Knicks will finish the regular season 3-0 in the matchup. 

The Bucks are 2-3 without Lillard, who they said is out indefinitely while he’s on blood-thinning medication.

They haven’t ruled him out for the postseason, though. 

The Knicks should like how they stack up in the matchup regardless. 

Antetokounmpo led the Bucks in scoring with 30 points but did not wreck the game, as he so often does.

Mitchell Robinson, after a rough showing in Wednesday’s loss to the Clippers, was the defender largely tasked with guarding Antetokounmpo.

He responded with one of his more active games of the year since returning from his foot injury — he scored just two points but hauled in 10 rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end. It helped the Knicks own the offensive glass.

They had 14 offensive boards to the Bucks’ three. Robinson also played 18 minutes after logging just 12 on Wednesday. 

“Obviously, conditioning is still a big part of everything for me,” Robinson said. “I did get a little winded the last two, three minutes in the first [half]. I need to work on that.” 

Towns chipped in 14 points. Kolek held his own in his surprisingly limited minutes, recording five points and five assists. Josh Hart filled up the stat sheet once again with 13 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. 

“You can’t say enough about what OG, Mikal and Josh did,” Thibodeau said. “They just fought throughout the game. [Towns] got in some early foul trouble. I thought Mitch’s activity today was huge. It’s a good, solid team win.”