Lower shooting percentage by Nets' Mikal Bridges likely caused by fatigue
Mikal Bridges. Credit: Getty Images/Jason Miller
CLEVELAND — It’s rare when Mikal Bridges can watch the end of a game sitting down instead of on the court.
On Sunday, he was on the bench when the Nets wrapped up their win over the Cavaliers. Bridges played 35 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back and sat the final 3:16.
Instead of looking fatigued, he was pleased after a dominant two-way performance during which he shot 9-for-14 from the field. The performance was a welcome reprieve after struggling most of the last few weeks.
“Just taking the pressure off himself and stepping up,” interim coach Kevin Ollie said Sunday. “He puts so much work in. So I know those seeds that he's planted is going to bloom and blossom at some point. He's meticulous in his work, and it’s going to show.”
Entering Sunday's game, Bridges was averaging 15.9 points and had shot just 37.1% from the field and 30.3% on three-pointers over the last 11 games while averaging 35.6 minutes. His 44.4% shooting this season is his lowest since his rookie season.
With Cam Thomas out in six of those games, Bridges had a greater burden on offense and faced more attention. The Hornets, for example, got physical with him in Saturday’s loss by bumping him on drives to force tough shots or sending double-teams at him.
Critics of his play look at Bridges’ stats and say he needs to play better despite averaging career highs in points, rebounds and assists. But what’s lost in the criticism are the minutes he’s logged the last three seasons.
In the last five games before Sunday, he played 39, 39, 38, 43 and 41 minutes. That’s the most minutes he’s logged in a five-game stretch since November 2022 when he played at least 41 minutes in four out of five games with the Suns, with the fifth being 38 minutes.
Bridges, who leads the NBA with 457 consecutive games played, is third in the NBA in total minutes played. He led the league in that category in the last two seasons and before Monday’s games, his league-high 8,117 minutes played since the start of the 2021-22 season are 342 more than the nearest player, the Bulls' DeMar DeRozan.
Add in last summer with Team USA for the FIBA World Cup and it’s easy to suspect part of his shooting woes are fatigue-based. However, Bridges won't admit that.
“I’m all right,” he said Saturday. “Just got to be better honestly that’s what it is. Just you know, more minutes or whatever it is. Just got to be better, both ends.”
It’s part of Bridges’ workmanlike attitude. He and Cam Johnson are often two of the last players to leave practice or shootaround. But it hasn’t stopped criticism that he’s not the player fans expected after he was traded to the Nets last season.
That’s why Sunday’s performance was a good reminder of Bridges’ value as the Nets resume their chase for the play-in tournament. It’s also a reminder any rest is good rest given the effect the heavy minutes have on his performance.
"We never want to struggle but when it happens, how do you learn from it? How do you get a reward from it is the most important thing," Ollie said. "So I think [Bridges] has a mindset that he's going to get a reward from this and it's going to benefit our team in the future and I think he's going to be fine."
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
