Jalen Brunson saves the Knicks while Mikal Bridges is down against the struggling Hornets

The Knicks should have had a big win on Black Friday against a banged-up, downed opponent.

Instead, they paid full retail price for a 99-98 win, a performance that required a fourth-quarter comeback as Mikal Bridges, the team’s biggest disappointment, watched from the bench most of the time.

Jalen Brunson led the late charge with 11 of his 31 points in the final period, including the foul throw that tied the score for the Knicks (11-8) with 8.6 seconds left.

But it shouldn’t have been that close.

The Hornets (6-13) were playing with a skeleton crew due to injuries; LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges and other regular players were inactive.

Their starting lineup resembled a G League team with Vasilije Micic, Moussa Diabate and Tidjane Salaun.

Still, they led most of the game and had a chance on a three-pointer from Cody Martin that bounced off the rim with 21 seconds left.

Bridges, the symbol of the Knicks’ early-season struggles, had perhaps his worst outing, playing 37 minutes with poor defense and just eight points on 3 of 10 shooting.

He was taken out of the game with 8:25 left and the Knicks trailed by six minutes.

He returned for just three defensive possessions – and was quickly shut down again so someone else could go on offense.

His replacement, Miles McBride (14 points, 5 rebounds, 26 minutes), played effectively the rest as the Knicks took the lead and secured the victory, leaving them undefeated in the NBA Cup.

The winner of New York’s Group A will be determined on Tuesday in the game against Orlando.

Friday started badly for Tom Thibodeau’s team.

Two days after scoring a low of 15 points in the first quarter of a loss in Dallas, the Knicks did it again in Charlotte, ending the first period trailing 23-15.

The Hornets relied on a rotating defense, a strategy the Knicks were unable to implement this season.

Friday’s problems, similar to Wednesday’s, were that ball movement was stopped when they tried to give Towns the ball in a mismatch against a smaller defender – a move that didn’t produce much success.

The end of the first half was symbolic of the disappointment.

With 1.1 seconds left after a Hornets basket, the Knicks just had to throw the ball into the ground to reach halftime.

Instead, Bridges threw a pass into the hands of Charlotte’s Josh Green, who sank a jumper at the buzzer for a 49-46 lead.

It was four points for Green in one second, with Bridges the culprit. He wasn’t in the game for most of the fourth quarter to make such a mistake.