NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets forward Mikal Bridges has been everything that the Nets could’ve hoped for and more when they traded for him in the Kevin Durant deal. Among other accomplishments, Bridges has now scored the second-most points by a Net in a calendar month as he has scored 461 points in the month of March. The names that he is in company with are: Kevin Durant (scored 471 points in November of 22) and John Williamson (scored 436 points in March in 1978). If you ask Bridges, it’s all in the name of winning.
“I’m just really trying to win,” Bridges said after scoring 42 points in Friday’s 124-107 win over the Atlanta Hawks. “Every shot I take and I’m just being aggressive and trying to make every shot I shoot because like I always say, if I’m missing every shot, there’s a low chance of us winning,” Bridges said. In Friday’s dominating win, he scored his 42 points on 16-of-24 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 shooting from three-point land. Bridges was able to get any shot he wanted and he showed the uncanny ability to get to the rim and finish with either hand.
Bridges is now averaging 27.4 points per game and if you were to compare that number to his peers, he would be eighth in the NBA in points per game just behind Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (27.6 PPG) and just in front of Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (26.9 PPG). It’s clear that Bridges is embracing his new role as the go-to scorer for Brooklyn. “So, just try and make them to either keep us in the game or take the lead or just keep extending the lead. So, it really just, trust me, I wouldn’t care about none of this if we were losing. So, just trying to keep us in the game and keep trying to help us win,” Bridges continued.
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