Nets' Mikal Bridges will keep letting it fly from three even if he's been off target

Mikal Bridges just kept shooting three-pointers Sunday. It was the only solution he had for his early season slump.

Bridges took a career-high 14 threes against the Wizards and made only two. The second started the Nets’ 20-7 closing run to win the game, but he wasn't pleased with the misses.

“The threes just hurt when you just keep missing them and you know you're missing them,” Bridges said. “So just staying with it."

Entering Tuesday, he’s shooting 26.9% on three-pointers, which would be a career worst for a season. It’s also well below his career average of 37.2%.

Bridges is also taking more threes (6.7 attempts) than ever. It’s been another hurdle as he’s adjusting to being both the Nets’ No. 1 scoring option and the No. 1 focus for opposing defenses.

Coach Jacque Vaughn said that Bridges still has the green light to shoot, as do most of the Nets. It’s just a matter of hoping the shots fall at some point and remaining confident in Bridges.

“I think you take a look at a lot of the shots he had [Sunday]) from three, really good looks,” Vaughn said. “That ball will continue to go in, he works too hard for it not to.”

The numbers back up Bridges taking good shots. Fifty-three of his 67 three-point attempts came with a defender at least four feet away, which NBA.com's stats classify as an open shot.

However, he’s made only 16 of those shots, a 30.1% clip. On shots with a defender 4-6 feet away, Bridges is shooting only 28.6% (10-for-35), down from 37.8% last season.

Bridges made his reputation with the Suns as a 3-and-D player so it’s even tougher that the first part hasn’t taken hold this season. But Vaughn not only wants him to keep shooting, he wants him to take more attempts.

“I wouldn’t mind him shooting three more of those things,” Vaughn said. “Turning two or three of the midrange shots that we love him shooting and he loves to get to, that’s a comfort level for him, I wouldn’t mind two or three more of those being threes.”

Cam Johnson added that when he watched film, Bridges’ shots looked good whenever Nets assistant Adam Caporn paused things. Sometimes the ball went down and popped up, which made it more frustrating knowing Bridges wasn’t that far off target.

Johnson can empathize with Bridges as he shot only 31% in his first two games back from injury and was 2-for-11 on threes Sunday.

“The best shooters in the world shoot in the mid-40s, so there's going to be makes and misses. Unfortunately there's going to be probably more misses than makes if we're being realistic,” Johnson said. “But [Mikal] has the ability to and he just has to keep on shooting because they're right there, and they will fall.

“There will be a game where he goes 10-for-10, and y'all are going to be like, 'Oh my God.’ ”

It hasn’t slowed down other parts of Bridges’ game. He’s averaging career highs in points (20.2) rebounds (6.3) and assists (3.7) and he’s still effective shooting inside the arc. According to Cleaning the Glass, he’s shooting 52% on midrange shots, which is a career best.

Against the Wizards, Bridges was 9-for-15 on two-point shots and snagged 13 rebounds, also a career high. Even if the shots aren’t falling from deep, he’s still finding other ways to score and contribute.

For now, it’s just keep shooting from deep until things change.

“I've always liked the three-point line, so I think the emphasis for me is just when I'm open, shoot them,” Bridges said. “I don't think I think about how many threes I get up. I just take what the defense gives me and if I'm open, I'm going to shoot them.”

By Evan Barnes

evan.barnes@newsday.comevan_b

Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.