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Breakout Brooklyn Nets star Mikal Bridges had high praise for Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young.
“You’ve seen Trae for all these years – We the same draft class and been around him all these years – just how unbelievably talented he is,” Bridges said via the Nets’ YouTube channel on March 31. “People just don’t understand what his IQ is. His IQ is crazy. He just knows so much things, and he just has that [Chris Paul] IQ…every little thing he sees and does.”
A resounding endorsement for a player coming off a 10-point, six-assist night, well below his lofty standards as the league leader in total assists who also happens to rank ninth in total points. Young shot 25% from the floor and went 0-for-5 from beyond the arc as the Nets came from behind to secure a 124-107 victory at home. It was his third least-efficient night in terms of true shooting percentage, all of which have come in March.
But this one, at least, can somewhat be explained away as an aberration – Young had logged 10-plus assists in each of the games with worse efficiency.
That’s because this uniquely-constructed Nets roster executed their plan to perfection.
“You saw we had different bodies on him,” head coach Jacque Vaughn told reporters in his postgame presser shared by the YES Network on YouTube. “And then we didn’t foul him as much to get him going…I thought all of his shots were contested tonight with a heavy hand in front of him.
“It’s some nuance to guarding him. Which way he likes to go, what moves he considers his go-to moves – so I think we were more locked into what those look like. And then making him finish at the rim over length.”
Bridges was credited with guarding Young the second most minutes behind Dindiwddie but two other Nets defended more shot attempts, per NBA.com matchup data which can be tricky.
Each of Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Cameron Johnson held Young to 1-for-3 shooting.
“Just great team defense,” said Bridges echoing his head coach’s sentiments. “We were switching and [Nic Claxton] being on him a lot, and doing really well and just helping each other out. Just trying to make it tough on them. Guys like that, it’s tough to shut down – that’s just so skillful like that. Just gotta try to help him make it tough on them.”
The 6-foot-1 Young was 0-for-3 against each of Bridges (6-foot-6), Claxton (6-foot-11), and Royce O’Neale (6-foot-6).
With the 6-foot-5 Spencer Dinwiddie as the smallest starter, there was nowhere for Young to go.
Mikal Bridges Going on The Offensive
Bridges finished the game with 42 points nothing the third 40-point performance of his career all of which have come as Net.
It’s come with a little history as well.
“I’ve been watching [Kevin Durant] since I was a kid. He’s been one of my favorite players…He’s arguably for me just one of the best scorers ever. So, to even compare myself to that coming in was definitely nothing compared to [him]. That’s why we had me and Cam [in the trade]. We could even out the numbers a little bit, us two for his. But, nah…that’s unbelievable status, crazy….But shoot just getting an opportunity. My teammates, coaches trust me. Just they give me the confidence to go out there and go play.”
That last line is key.
Given that the trades altered expectations for this season, Vaughn noted the intentional effort to give Bridges the kind of green light he has had since coming over.
“This has been a relationship where we’ve allowed him to just hoop,” he said. “And he’s in positions that he wasn’t in a few months ago, and I think he’s really enjoyed having the burden…of scoring for us or being an offensive cog for us on a nightly basis…He puts in the work. He’s present all the time, and he pours his soul into the team. And he deserves this, and we’re going to keep putting more on his plate to see if he can handle it.”
Hawks head coach Quin Snyder, who saw the Suns version of Bridges regularly for four seasons while the former was guiding the Utah Jazz, also noted the shift in Bridges’ role pointing out that he was always good.
“He wasn’t the first or second option on that team,” Snyder said via the Atlanta Hawks’ official YouTube channel after the game. Clearly, he’s been working. He’s been efficient forever, he’s made those threes. He’s just…more aggressive right now because he has to be. And it’s a credit to him.”
Mikal Bridges Gives Credit
Bridges noted that he never really envisioned himself as a consistent 30-point scorer but continued to credit former teammates Paul and Devin Booker – and the time he got to play without them – for helping him become the player that he is.
“C is going to be a Hall of Famer, Book’s going to be one when it’s all said and done,” Bridges said explaining his unforeseen explosion. “So just knowing my role and still being aggressive. But I knew I was going to keep growing. There was no timetable, no rush. I was just trying to keep getting better every single year, and that’s what I was doing.
“Obviously it was always back of my head just like, ‘One day’. Just got to build to get there. You can’t just get there in one year. You just got to keep building and eventually, things line up…I’ve been grateful to be in this situation.”
He also sent a shoutout to Milwaukee Bucks guard Jevon Carter for this epic one-liner when asked about his big night.
“I ain’t gonna be like my boy JC, ‘When I woke up’. But I just, I don’t know. I think I had it going a little bit at first. But I was frustrated because I had some bad turnovers, and wasn’t guarding the way I wanted…So probably after the first quarter, I think when I was making threes…If I’m making these threes, getting to the rim and [mid-range shots], that’s slight for me.
“Trust me,” he said. “I wouldn’t care about none of this if we were losing.”
The Nets have won three of their last four games to get a full two-game lead over the Miami Heat for the final guaranteed playoff spot with just five games to go for both squads.
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