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With the Philadelphia 76ers playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets set to start on April 15, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers praised Nets wing Mikal Bridges for how well he’s done in a bigger role since going from the Phoenix Suns to the Nets.
“He’s shown a little bit of different things,” Rivers said, per Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. “He’s done all the things that he’s doing in Brooklyn that he did in Phoenix. He just didn’t have the opportunity to do that a lot and he didn’t have the way to do it and consistently. In Phoenix, he did it when they gave it to him. If he wasn’t going, they could go away from him and then someone else, (Devin) Booker or Chris Paul can do it.
Rivers added that Bridges has proven himself when there was uncertainty about how he’d do in a larger role.
“Here (in Brooklyn), he has to do it every night and no one ever knows if a guy is capable of doing that. He’s proving that he is.”
Bridges was originally selected no. 10 by the Sixers in the 2018 NBA Draft before having his rights traded to the Suns.
With a bigger role on the Nets, Bridges has averaged 26.1 points while shooting 47.5% from the field and 37.6% from three.
Tyrese Maxey Not Surprised by Mikal Bridges’ Development
Maxey told Carlin that he isn’t shocked by how well Bridges has done in his new role with the Nets
“I wouldn’t say it’s surprising,” Maxey told Carlin. “The team that he was on with the Phoenix Suns, he played his role. They would run plays for him down the stretch of games. I remember when we played them here, they ran a couple of set ATOs for him down the stretch in the fourth quarter, so he’s always had game.”
Maxey said that his bigger role shows that the Sixers will have their work cut out for them on the defensive end when they cover Bridges.
“Now, he just has to shoot more, has more volume, more confidence, more plays run for him, the offense kind of flowing through him. So hats off to him. Gonna be a tough job for us to stop him. We’re gonna play him not just one-on-one but a five-man defense. He’s gotta see a crowd every single time that he catches the ball.”
In the one game Bridges played against the Sixers as a Net on February 11, he put up 23 points on eight-for-18 shooting, including three-for-five from three.
Tobias Harris Singles Out Mikal Bridges
Maxey isn’t the only Sixer who recognizes how much better Bridges has gotten since being traded to the Nets.
While talking with Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Tobias Harris singled out Bridges for his play since coming to Brooklyn while adding that the Sixers will have to make him take difficult shots when they go up against the Nets.
“He’s good,” Harris told Pompey. “He’s ballin’. So he will be a big piece for them in the playoffs. We have to be able to make all of his looks tough.”
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