Mikal Bridges understood the caliber of player he was replacing when the Phoenix Suns traded him to the Brooklyn Nets for Kevin Durant.
“I get it. You’re getting Kevin Durant. Maybe I’d make that trade, too,” Bridges said of his former team's decision.
It's true, Bridges is not a perennial MVP candidate or generational scorer. However, he made it clear Wednesday night that he is capable of carrying a team through crunch time as Durant did on a nightly basis during his Nets tenure. Bridges scored a career-high 45 points, 17 of which came in the fourth quarter, on 17-of-24 shooting in a 116-105 win over the Miami Heat.
The 26-year-old added eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. Bridges is the second player in Nets history to record 45-plus points, five-plus rebounds, and five-plus assists with multiple steals and multiple blocks in a game. The other?
Kevin Durant.
It's safe to say that the Nets won't expect 40-point performances from their new acquisition regularly, but it's comforting to know he is capable of such an effort. Bridges has never been known for his scoring, but rather for his elite defense. The forward said Wednesday that he never had his sights set on huge offensive numbers when he stepped into his new role in Brooklyn:
“I mean, never scored 40 in my life, so it’s a first,” Bridges said. “But like I said, just being aggressive. Just doing whatever it takes to win. That’s really what it comes down to, like I said, just winning the game. Even if I score 40 or I score five. If I was to score five and I was aggressive and we won, I would feel good anyway.”
Bridges has drawn rave reviews from coaches across the league during his five NBA seasons, largely due to his hard-nosed defense and high-IQ play. Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn has joined that list since acquiring the former lottery pick. Vaughn said Bridges' attitude stood out from the team's morning shootaround to the final buzzer Wednesday.
“He had the mindset that he wasn't gonna let us lose,” Vaughn said postgame. “And at halftime, he had it going early and then just really had some good looks to go down. The 3s were able to go down for him. I think overall it was just attitude and the mindset of not letting us go away without a win tonight.”
When asked pregame who has emerged as the vocal leader in the new-look Nets locker room, the head coach pointed to Bridges and Spencer Dinwiddie. It's Bridges' commitment on both ends of the floor that offers him that credibility among his teammates. The wing was voted runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year while earning First-Team All-Defense honors in 2022.
Despite his career-best scoring night Wednesday, Bridges did not miss a beat on that end. The newest Net said that approach won't change as he shoulders a greater scoring burden in Brooklyn.
“Defense always comes first to me,” Bridges said postgame. “I'm still kinda mad I gave up a couple buckets tonight … Even when I was in Phoenix, when I had to score, my biggest thing was always still guard. It was tough, I was getting really tired. But that was the growth and I had to go through those pains.
“Coming here now, I'm doing the same thing, just trying to be aggressive. But defense comes first before anything. That’s just who I am. I just think defense wins championships and wins games.”
The Nets lost two stars when they traded Durant and Kyrie Irving. However, in a game that featured Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, Bridges was the best player on the court Wednesday. That capability amid expanded opportunity reportedly led Brooklyn to hang up the phone when the Memphis Grizzlies offered four first-round picks for Bridges at the deadline.
Bridges may not be Durant, but he is the Nets' building block moving forward. Vaughn sang an optimistic tune Wednesday when speaking about what the future holds.
“Mikal Bridges is open-minded but at the same time has a consciousness about him that he can communicate with his teammates,” the head coach said postgame. “He has a joy about him every day I see him in the gym. He works on his game. So (I'm) extremely pleased that he’s a part of our future moving forward.
“If you want different guys to represent you as a franchise I’m quite sure when he goes to schools and does public appearances, when he’s in the locker room with this group, when he’s talking to his head coach after the walkthrough today, extremely impressive as a human being … And 45 helps too as a basketball player.”