It took a while, but Mikal Bridges showed signs of coming out of his multi-week funk.
The fact that he accomplished that while Cam Thomas also had a strong game bodes well for Brooklyn.
Bridges had 25 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals in Sunday’s blowout win at Cleveland. He made 9 of 14 overall and 5 of 8 from behind the 3-point arc, while Thomas made 29.
“[I’ve] We needed to be more efficient, guard, better on both ends through rebounding. Do everything. So just keep going and get ready for the next game and do the same thing,” said Bridges, who interim coach Kevin Ollie said has regained his athleticism.
“It’s an energy that should never waver. In the case of a shot [are] Enter or shoot? [are] It might not go in, the shot might go in, it should never waver, his energy,” Ollie said. “He’s too good at defense that he can’t shake it.”
Bridges entered Sunday having averaged just 15.9 points on shooting splits of 37.1/30.3/68.6 in his previous 11 games.
“It was good for Mikal as well to see some shots go in and come off Carl and play off.” [Thomas], just take the pressure off yourself and step up,” Ollie said. “He puts in so much effort that I know the seeds he plants will one day bloom.
“He’s very careful about what he does, and it’s going to show. Struggles are part of it, and if he doesn’t quit midway through, he’ll grow through it. and he didn’t stop in the middle [Sunday]:He made it to the end. ”
Sunday marked the first time all season that two Nets players had 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in the same game.
It’s probably no coincidence that Thomas, whose role has recently increased as a secondary playmaker alongside starting point guard Dennis Schroder, actively sought to use Bridges early on.
Seconds into the game, Thomas stole the ball from Darius Garland and Bridges hit a 20-foot shot to set the tone of the game.
“We have to make it a little easier for him, for me, and for us.” [Dennis Smith Jr.]. But when he’s just running the floor, cutting, shooting, and of course playing pick-and-rolls,” Schroder said. “He started out playing great defense and that helped him offensively as well.”
Cam Johnson suffered an ankle sprain on March 5 and missed the past three games. The Nets are scheduled to practice Tuesday while making his status public, then depart for the tilt in Orlando on Wednesday.
Brooklyn is halfway through a stretch of six consecutive away games this season.
The Nets have 17 games remaining in the regular season and are 3 1/2 games behind Atlanta for the final play-in spot. Both teams are inactive on Tuesday, with the Hawks playing against Portland on Wednesday. Sadiq Bey suffered a torn ACL at the end of the season.
