NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets have had some terrible injury luck to begin this season as ever since the home opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Nets have been missing at least two starters in every game. Nets guard Mikal Bridges chooses to look at the situation from a different angle.
“Just figure it out,” Bridges said after scoring 19 points in Saturday’s 124-114 loss to the Boston Celtics. Brooklyn was playing the back end of a back-to-back and as such, point guard Ben Simmons, who has played in every game this season, was given the night off due to injury maintenance. Add to the fact that Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton have missed the last five games after both sustained injuries in the game against Cleveland.
“Next man up and just gotta figure it out, that’s all,” Bridges continued. With Simmons missing Saturday’s game, Brooklyn used its fourth different starting lineups in six games and yet, the team is 3-3 heading into its next game on Monday against the Milwaukee Bucks. Through it all, the Nets have been able to some games despite how undermanned they have been, but Saturday was not one of those games.
Despite coming back from double-digit deficits twice throughout the game, Brooklyn just didn’t have the firepower or the energy to keep up with the Celtics through four quarters. While the Nets still lost the game, they can be satisfied knowing that they played as hard as they could for as long as they could against one of the best teams in the NBA at the moment.
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