PHILADELPHIA — Mikal Bridges scored 30 points and only missed six shots in his first playoff game as Brooklyn’s No. 1 scoring option — but it was a 20-point loss in a game the Nets hoped to play better.
Bridges, who has been on a scoring surge since the trade to Brooklyn averaging 27 points per game since Feb. 9, shrugged off the impressive performance.
“None of that s--- matters when you lose,” he said after the Nets’ 121-101 loss to the 76ers in Game 1 of this Eastern Conference first-round series. “It feels good to make some shots, but I’d rather miss shots and win, so it’s whatever.”
Bridges scored 11 points in the first quarter and tallied 23 by halftime, but said he struggled when the Sixers adjusted in the second half. While his scoring was on point, the Nets’ star struggled to pass against the trap.
He turned the ball over three times, either on drives to the rim or reacting to an extra body coming his way.
“They were blitzing, so I was just trying to make the right reads,” he said. “Sometimes try to break it off, but just trying to make the right read. Play four-on-three on the other end, so credit to them.
“A couple of my turnovers I was trying to find somebody, but you know I got stuck and left my feet.”
Most impressive about Bridges’ performance — albeit in defeat — was how his shots came within the flow of Brooklyn’s offense. The Nets set off-ball stagger screens for Bridges, who often flared from the corner up to the top of the key, where he would either attack the rim or settle for a fading mid-range jumper, which has become his bread and butter.
Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said rugged Sixers forward P.J. Tucker as Bridges’ primary defender changed the way Brooklyn wants to utilize its star player offensively.
“I think in this series with P.J. guarding him, P.J. is extremely strong, wants to grab you, wants to hold him,” Vaughn said. “So we want to have Mikal play in space, play with freedom. Trying to free him up to play in some space, that’s really how he got a bunch of those off-the-bounce catch-and-go looks.”
Bridges has embraced the No. 1 scoring option role in Brooklyn, and it’s clear he can put points on the board against a playoff defense.
Whether or not those points will lead to victory remains to be seen.
“I think I’m just more about trying to win, so I think just figuring how to rebound better,” he said. “I think we had a lot of turnovers. So just trying to be a better team and win.
“It’s tough this series, so we just gotta watch film and get better and, you know, do whatever we have to do to get ready for the next game. But just learning right now, which I think we’re gonna be OK. Just gotta get ready for the next one.”
