NEW YORK — Mikal Bridges knew heading into Tuesday’s In-Season Tournament game against the Toronto Raptors that the contest had more to it than just a typical regular season game in November. For one of the few times this season, the margin of victory, assuming the Brooklyn Nets would win the game, mattered as well.
“We thought 12 (points),” Bridges said after dropping 22 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in Tuesday’s 115-103 win over the Raptors. “I think Boston (Celtics), they bumped it to 19 we had to win by. Before the game, I think it was around like 12 points,” Bridges explained.
Coming into Tuesday’s game, the Nets had to either beat Toronto and hope that the Celtics lost their matchup to the Chicago Bulls or if Boston won, that the margin of victory was low enough for Brooklyn to win via tiebreaker to come out of Group C. Unfortunately for the Nets, the Celtics beat the Bulls 124-97 to essentially eliminate any realistic chance of Brooklyn winning the group.
Despite the fact that the Nets missed the tournament entirely, Bridges was able to keep things in perspective. “Main thing was winning that game and then, play as hard as we can. And, towards the end, just keep going until the clock stops,” Bridges continued.
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