Tag: Mikal Bridges

Rookie Eric Paschall helps get Suns’ Mikal Bridges trending on Twitter

Eric Paschall chimed in on social media to help push his former Villanova teammate’s name to trending levels on Twitter.

With an undefeated record since stepping inside the Disney World campus, The Phoenix Suns have grown into the Orlando Bubble’s lead story. As the Suns make a late push for the postseason, Mikal Bridges has stamped a bevy of breakout performances.

During the Suns’ seven-game winning streak, Bridges is averaging 12.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals per contest.

After dropping 18 points with five 3-pointers and six boards in Phoenix’s win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, thousands of accounts flooded social media to help get the former first-round pick’s name trending on Twitter.

Via @Suns on Twitter:

Bridges’ former Villanova teammates chimed in to help push his name to trending levels. Early on Tuesday morning, Eric Paschall added to the Bridges social media movement.

Via @epaschall on Twitter:

After seeing his name trend across social media, Bridges reacted with a set of laughing emojis.

Via @mikal_bridges on Twitter:

Following his noted night on Twitter, Bridges recorded his scoring high inside the Orlando Bubble. On their way to victory against the playoff-bound Philadelphia 76ers, the 23-year-old tallied 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting with two boards, two steals and two blocked shots.

With chances of a spot in the postseason still on the table, Bridges, Devin Booker and the Suns will suit up against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks for their final game in the seeding round.

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Suns’ Mikal Bridges rooting for Sixers to beat Blazers for their hopes

Phoenix Suns guard Mikal Bridges is actively rooting for the Philadelphia 76ers to beat the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Philadelphia 76ers are in the process of making a lot of huge changes to their lineup after losing Ben Simmons so they have a lot of stuff to work through while also trying to win some games.

On Sunday, they take on a Portland Trail Blazers team that is still trying to at least clinch a spot in the play-in tournament in the Western Conference. The Blazers are battling amongst a handful of teams inside the bubble and one of those teams is the Phoenix Suns.

The Suns were considered longshots to make any noise inside the bubble, but they are proving people wrong as they are currently 5-0 in Orlando and are right there with the Blazers. This is leading Suns guard Mikal Bridges to root for the Sixers to knock off Portland to give them even more of a shot.

Bridges, of course, was selected by the Sixers in the 2018 NBA Draft before being sent to the Suns in exchange for Zhaire Smith. The Sixers can now help the young man out of Villanova and his team if they can get a win on Sunday. [lawrence-related id=36558,36542,36534]

2018 NBA re-draft: Sixers select Mikal Bridges and keep him this time

In a re-draft from 2018, the Philadelphia 76ers select Mikal Bridges, and this time, they keep him.

The 2018 NBA Draft was a bit of a disappointment for fans of the Philadelphia 76ers. The team had just come off the first playoff appearance of the Process era and they were hoping to add another contributor to their young core.

The team held the 10th pick in the draft and they selected Villanova product Mikal Bridges who was a local kid and his mother worked for the Sixers. IT was the perfect feel-good story for all of the right reasons. Then, it wasn’t.

Philadelphia ended up sending Bridges to the Phoenix Suns for the 16th pick which turned out to be Zhaire Smith so all of the good feelings went out the window. Since then, Smith has been hit with a ton of adversity such as injuries and a drastic position change from power forward in college to shooting guard in the NBA and it has been tough sledding for him.

In a re-draft done by Bleacher Report, the Sixers keep Bridges this time around:

No, this isn’t about correcting what should have been the best feel-good story of the draft. It’s an acknowledgment that Mikal Bridges’ three-and-D skills were properly valued the first time around.

The 23-year-old may not flash star potential, but he’s solid in most spots. He hiked up all his shooting rates this season (51.6/35.2/84.8), and defensive real plus-minus views him as the 15th-best stopper at his position. He contributes to winning.

Bridges would be a good fit on this current Sixers team who are in obvious need of shooting, but one cannot change the past. Smith still has the potential to be a good player and he had a strong end to the G League season before the rest of it was canceled due to the current coronavirus pandemic the world is dealing with at the moment.  [lawrence-related id=31121,31113,31105]

Mikal Bridges trashes Matisse Thybulle’s lack of 2K skills after his win

Phoenix Suns guard Mikal Bridges calls out Philadelphia 76ers rookie Matisse Thybulle’s 2K skills.

With the regularly scheduled matchup of the Philadelphia 76ers and the Phoenix Suns postponed Friday due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the two teams decided to settle the game on the sticks.

Sixers rookie Matisse Thybulle and Suns guard Mikal Bridges played the game on NBA2K20 and they live-streamed it on twitch. Bridges got the best of Thybulle and he came away with a win for his Suns 75-64 and he exposed Thybulle as a bad 2K player.

Thybulle’s avatar on the game finished with a plus-minus of minus-17 and he had two turnovers while Bridges scored 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting playing as himself. Due to that fact, Bridges had to remind Thybulle that he is not very good at the game.

Thybulle responded that he has to get back in the gym to get better at shooting. Of course, he will do so with nobody in the gym with him to practice social distancing.

Maybe the two of them will have a rematch at some point so Thybulle can get a second chance. [lawrence-related id=28389,28383,28374]

Matisse Thybulle, Sixers fall to Mikal Bridges, Suns in NBA2K20 stream

The Philadelphia 76ers fell to the Phoenix Suns on NBA2K20.

With the NBA in the middle of an indefinite suspension and everybody dealing with the effects of COVID-19, everybody is looking for any type of NBA entertainment. So, Philadelphia 76ers rookie Matisse Thybulle and Phoenix Suns guard Mikal Bridges hopped on the sticks to live stream the scheduled Sixers and Suns matchup on NBA2K20 with twitch.

This was the type of opportunity for Thybulle to show off his gamer skills and try to help the Sixers build on their already impressive home record and, of course, we got to see some of his personality that has captured the attention of fans.

He was upset with Mike Scott on one play on a fastbreak. He threw a pass up to the power forward, but instead of dunking, he laid it up and Thybulle called him by his full name of Michael.

Unfortunately, Thybulle was not able to come up with the victory. Bridges led the Suns to a 75-64 win on the sticks as he was able to stop Thybulle from using Joel Embiid in the post in the fourth quarter.

Hopefully, we will be able to see real basketball on the court again soon, but until that happens, we have the nest best thing and that is video games. [lawrence-related id=28389,28383,28374]

Matisse Thybulle, Mikal Bridges to go live on 2K for Sixers vs. Suns

Philadelphia 76ers rookie Matisse Thybulle and Phoenix Suns guard Mikal Bridges will play Sixers and Suns on Friday in 2K.

The basketball world is put on hold right now as everybody takes the necessary precautions to protect themselves from COVID-19. That means the scheduled matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Phoenix Suns on Friday is postponed.

However, both teams appear to have found an alternative to the matchup that fans will all love.

NBC Sports Philadelphia announced on Thursday that they will broadcast a live twitch stream of Sixers rookie Matisse Thybulle and Suns second-year guard Mikal Bridges playing the Sixers and the Suns matchup on NBA2K20 on Friday at 6:00 p.m. EST. That way, the game gets “played” in a way and fans can still get some excitement out of the game.

To refresh Sixers fans on Bridges, which they probably don’t need it, he was selected by the Sixers in the 2018 draft and he was then sent to the Suns for Zhaire Smith. Maybe, the Sixers should have chosen Smith to be their player for this one rather than Thybulle. [lawrence-related id=28321,28315,28306]

Eric Paschall leads Warriors to 18 point road comeback vs. Suns to snap losing streak, 115-99

Eric Paschall’s 25 points carried the injury-hampered Warriors to an 18-point comeback victory against the Phoenix Suns.

The Golden State Warriors’ day did not start as planned. The Warriors announced Stephen Curry’s return would be moved back from his original target date of March 1. The news around Curry’s injury followed Golden State ruling out a trio of players against the Phoenix Suns.

Yet, the shorthanded Warriors pulled off one of their best wins of the season in Phoenix with a 115-99 comeback victory.

Without Draymond Green, Jordan Poole and Ky Bowman, the Warriors only had eight healthy players and no true point guard against the Suns. Golden State started the game in Phoenix falling down 18 points in the first half. However, the second half was a different story.

The Warriors roared back to outscore the Suns 31-16 in the third quarter. Golden State completely erased the 18 point deficit to take the lead going into the final period.

Rookie Eric Paschall carried Golden State’s comeback, scoring 25 points in 33 minutes off the bench. The Villanova product was Steve Kerr’s primary scoring option on offense, with Damion Lee finding him as the lead ball-handler. Lee dished out a career-high eight assists while scoring 20 points and grabbing five rebounds.

Seven of Golden State’s eight-man rotation scored in double figures to snap the Warriors eight-game losing streak.

The Turnover Battle

Although the Warriors had a limited rotation, the point-guardless team protected the rock. Golden State only turned the ball over 10 times, while their opponent nearly doubled that number with 19 turnovers.

Phoenix All-Star Devin Booker scored 21 points on 6-of-16 shooting, but turned the ball over six times. The Suns’ backcourt of Ricky Rubio and Booker combined to turn the ball over more than the entire Warriors team with 11.

Every starter for the Warriors recorded a steal against the Suns, with Marquese Chriss and Andrew Wiggins each swiping three steals.

Mychal Mulder

Paschall and Lee will make headlines, but 10-day contract player Mychal Mulder was a crucial factor in Golden State’s comeback victory. Mulder scored his first NBA points in 14 points on 3-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. The Kentucky product’s long-range shooting came at a much needed time for Warriors who have been struggling from 3-point land.

Mulder racked up 34 minutes in the second game of his 10-day contract. His play against the Suns should earn him more time on the court through the remainder of his time in Golden State.

Kevon Looney

Kevon Looney‘s 2019-20 season has been defined by injury, yet against the Suns, the Golden State center looked like his old self. Looney scored in double-figures for the second time this season with 10 points while grabbing six rebounds.

Before the game, Steve Kerr said the former high school point guard, could get some time point guard for the Warriors. Looney dished out three assists against the Suns, tied for his season-high.