Mikal Bridges has had a lot on his plate ever since he came to the Brooklyn Nets last season as a result of the Kevin Durant trade to the Phoenix Suns. Bridges had to evolve from being just a 3-and-D wing to a player who had to do that and so much more if his team was going to win a lot of games.
While there was a lot of speculation this summer about the Nets going after Damian Lillard or a player of that caliber, Brooklyn ended up staying pat and allowing Bridges to be the main scoring option. It hasn’t been the smoothest start to the season for Bridges or the Nets, but he is only getting better as the season goes on.
Bridges dropped 32 points, five rebounds, and six assists in Wednesday’s 114-113 win over the Atlanta Hawks, Bridges and Cam Johnson’s first win against that franchise, and what was more important outside of the actual production was when Bridges made his plays. He scored just nine points in the first half as Johnson put up 15 points in the half, but the final 24 minutes was Bridges’ time.
Bridges put up 13 points in the third quarter and dropped 10 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead mid-range field-goal over Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter, arguably Atlanta’s best wing defender, to put a cap on his clutch performance.
Here’s what Bridges had to say about playing in those moments with the game on the line:
“I think just being together more and having trust in each other and just that camaraderie we have. You just feel that everybody wants to be in those moments, you know? You want to be in those late-game moments and take a lot of pride in it.”
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