NEW YORK — How is Mikal Bridges going to fare as the No. 1 option against a playoff-level defense?
It’s quite simple for a Nets team facing an uphill battle in their upcoming first-round playoff matchup against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers: Bridges has thrived as Brooklyn’s primary scorer, averaging 27 points per game since the Kevin Durant trade.
But can he do it in the playoffs as the focal point of an opposing team’s scouting report? Can he do it when the opponent has had a week to prepare?
The Nets believe so.
“He’s carried on as business as usual for us. My conversation with him is he’s going to get the same shots as we’ve had before,” Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said after Nets practice at the HSS Training Facility on Thursday. “We’re confident he’s going to make those shots. Nothing changes from that aspect. You try to predict who is going to guard him, what he’s good at and how you can combat some of those things. For us, he’s been a part of games at a high level before. I think he’s determined enough to accept the challenge.”
Bridges has championship experience. He was part of a 2020-21 Phoenix Suns team that went to the NBA Finals and lost to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks, 4-2.
He was the fourth scoring option on that team, however, behind Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul. Now in Brooklyn, Bridges has ascended to go-to guy status. His abilities could give the Nets a fighting chance as underdogs against the presumptive league Most Valuable Player and a Sixers team with championship aspirations.
And make no mistake: The Sixers will treat him as such. Players in Philadelphia have already described the “five-man” effort it will take to slow Bridges down.
“I don’t know what exotic [defense] is, but like, it’s going to be tough for sure,” Bridges said. “I mean, I know how it is, I know how game-planning for top players is. I know being the defender guarding the guy, so I know how the scout can be. I mean, it’s a challenge, and it’s great, man. It’s great for all of us. All it’s going to do is make us better.”
Bridges has played his best basketball in Brooklyn.
All three of his 40-plus-point games have come after the trade, as have 11 of his 13 career games with 30 or more.
P.J. Tucker and Tyrese Maxey, two Sixers starters, saw his potential in Phoenix. During Thursday’s practice in Camden, N.J., both Maxey and Tucker told reporters they knew there was more to his game that wasn’t on display because his role was smaller on the Suns.
But when Booker went down two Christmases ago with a groin injury that cost him 21 straight games, Bridges stepped up. He led the Suns in scoring at 19.5 points per game on 46-38-91 shooting splits.
And through it all, he never missed a game.
Vaughn called him the NBA’s Cal Ripken Jr., Major League Baseball’s career leader in consecutive games played. And after dealing with the rash of absences from star players during the Durant and Kyrie Irving era, starting center Nic Claxton said he knew Bridges was for real — that his production wasn’t a fluke — when he started to see it on a nightly basis.
“Him being on the court every single night, especially on back-to-backs, just coming out and scoring 15 points in the first quarter. I mean that’s remarkable,” Claxton said after practice on Thursday. “We’re tired, we’re getting in from the road and he’s just consistent. He’s been consistent since he’s been with us and we’re really going to lean on him here in the playoffs.”
Bridges suddenly finds himself on the cusp of superstardom — and the status could be cemented with how he fares as an underdog in a series the Sixers are heavily favored to win, if not outright sweep. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, even if Bridges didn’t see it coming.
“Like a goal? A lot of people, everybody just wants to be the best you can be and one day eventually be an All-Star and stuff like that,” Bridges said when asked if becoming an NBA superstar was a goal of his. “But not really. I just try to go out there and hoop and make the right play, make shots and defend, and try to win a game. Obviously there’s more on my plate than it was when I was in Phoenix, but I just look at myself just trying to be aggressive and play hard and try to do the right thing.”
Here’s the thing about playoff defenses: They’re designed to take away your team’s first offensive option.
Playoff defenses are more physical. More intentional. Tailored specifically to a team’s strengths and weaknesses.
This will mark the third playoffs of Bridges’ career, but the first where he will be the focal point of a team’s offense.
The Sixers have championship aspirations. Bridges is first on the docket of a long list of talented NBA stars Philly will have to contain — or flat-out defeat — if the city is going to claim an NBA title this season.
“They’re gonna key in on our sets, and we’re gonna do them as well,” veteran forward Dorian Finney-Smith said after Thursday’s practice. “Everybody knows each other plays, everybody’s gonna probably throw a wrinkle in there, a different scout, so you just gotta figure it out as a team. They’re probably gonna guard us differently than they did in the regular season and we’ll probably do the same. It’s gonna be a lot of schemes and whatever team can adjust the quickest and apply it.”
Bridges wasn’t cast for the superstar role — but he’s about to find out if the shoe fits.
The Sixers discussed how they plan to approach defending him after Thursday’s practice.
Maxey said he recalled the Suns drawing up after timeout out-of-bounds plays for Bridges during critical late-game possessions. He suggested the Sixers will mix up the coverages they show Brooklyn’s No. 1 scorer.
“He always had game, and now he has to shoot more, have more volume, more confidence, more plays flowing through him,” Maxey told reporters on Thursday. “It’s gonna be a tough out for us to stop him. We’re gonna have to play him not just one-on-one but a five-man defense. You’ve got to see a crowd every single time that you catch the ball.”
Tucker, a veteran journeyman who has played for six different teams, said Bridges was the kind of player whose game was bigger than the role given to him in Phoenix.
“I think he’s always been good,” Tucker said on Thursday. “I think he’s been able to show his full game now whereas in Phoenix, he was just kind of playing a role. Here, he’s kind of opened his wings a little bit. You know he can really play.”
Bridges is ready for the challenge, and the Nets’ admittedly slim odds at winning their first-round playoff series against the Sixers hinge on their star’s ability to score on a defense that will be tailored to his strengths.
He’s been on the other side of the scouting report, tasked with defending an opposing team’s best player.
Now, he’s the one being game-planned for.
“We believe in his talent 100 percent,” said Spencer Dinwiddie. “I know this is a first for him in terms of being maybe the No. 1 option on a playoff team, but he’s been to the Finals, man. He’s got a lot of experience. He’s a very mature guy and had great success in college and hasn’t missed a game. You guys know the story. So I don’t think that’s gonna shake him at all.”
“I think it’s just going to bring out the best of him, honestly for all of us,” added Finney-Smith. “A lot of us are in different roles than we’ve been in even in the beginning of the season. It will bring out the best of him. I’m excited to watch.”
