Brooklyn Nets guard Mikal Bridges has seen what winning teams look like and what losing teams look like. He knows that teams that lose more than they win are the ones that play incomplete games or have games where they’re great for a spurt or two, but make a lot of mistakes for the majority of the game.
In Wednesday’s 123-108 win over the Detroit Pistons, Bridges had 26 points, but it came on a frigid 10-of-26 shooting from the field and 2-of-11 from three-point land. Despite going through another cold shooting spell, Bridges understood that to beat a team like the Pistons, one of the worst teams in the NBA, execution is paramount.
It was clear early on why both of these teams are where they are. Detroit came into this game having lost 20 of its past 21 games thanks to injuries robbing the team of much of its talent. For the players that remained, like Jaden Ivey, they were talented, but were not able to execute their gameplan. Brooklyn got whatever it wanted whenever it wanted it and Bridges spoke after the game about how the team understood that playing for the entire game is what is important regardless of the opponent:
“Just staying locked in, you know? They’re (the Pistons) a good young team, they play fast. We knew they were going to come out and make a run. I think they did that to Miami last night. So, just stay with it and just keep playing for 48 minutes.”
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