Mikal Bridges just made it easier — much easier — for Brooklyn Nets fans to accept the reality that Kevin Durant is gone, as he just went absolutely off Wednesday night in a 116-105 win against the Miami Heat at home at Barclays Center.

Less than a week before the Phoenix Suns included him in a package that was sent to the Nets for Durant, Mikal Bridges torched the Heat for a career-high 45 points. The former Villanova Wildcats star was in the zone early, as he found his rhythm right away.

Mikal Bridges went 5-for-6 from the field in the first quarter and continued. He cooled off a bit in the second period before resuming his offensive onslaught in the second half, carrying the Nets on his back and carrying them to their first win in three games. Bridges played great on the other end of the floor as well, as he had two steals and two blocks.

“Lmao everyone predicted this was gon happen but not this damm fast,” Twitter user
@Jamarri6601 said about Bridges' scoring outburst.

Another, @LocksCaptain, chimed in by dropping a hot take: “Rudy Gobert trade 2.0.”

That was seconded by @ChandlerEnfing1, who said “Brooklyn may have gotten better by making the KD trade.”

Some more great reactions to Mikal Bridges' eruption from around the Twitter world.

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Mikal Bridges also got help from another player sent to the Nets in that Kevin Durant trade, with Cameron Johnson scoring 18 points. Cam Thomas came off the bench and fired 19 points. As a team, the Nets shot 53.2 percent from the floor.