Tyrese Maxey: Nets' Mikal Bridges Will Be 'Tough' Guard for 76ers

The Brooklyn Nets look a lot different ahead of the upcoming playoff run compared to last year’s. A team that was once led by Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving is now the organization that former Phoenix Suns standout Mikal Bridges has become the face of.

Although Bridges has played in just 27 games for the Nets since being added in the trade that landed the Suns Kevin Durant, it seems Bridges has unlocked areas of his game that weren’t seen when he was a role player in Phoenix.

On Tuesday, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers noted that wasn’t necessarily the case as Bridges’ overall talent was evident before but more opportunities in Brooklyn have allowed him to showcase it to the basketball world.

“He’s done all the things that he’s doing in Brooklyn that he did in Phoenix,” Doc Rivers explained. “He just didn’t have the opportunity to do that a lot, and he didn’t have the way to do it and consistently.”

In 56 games with the Suns this season, Bridges averaged 17 points while taking 14 shots per game. When he linked with the Nets for the team’s final 27 games, Bridges increased his scoring to 26 points per game as he took five more shots per outing.

“In Phoenix, he did it when they gave it to him. If he wasn’t going, they could go away from him, and then someone else, (Devin) Booker or Chris Paul, can do it,” Rivers continued. “[In Brooklyn], he has to do it every night, and no one ever knows if a guy is capable of doing that. He’s proven that he is.”

Sixers’ standout guard Tyrese Maxey agrees with Rivers’ assessment of Bridges’ emergence with the Nets. While noting that he’s not surprised by Bridges’ statistical improvements in Brooklyn, Maxey acknowledged that Bridges is a guy that simply plays his role. Now, that role is more prominent.

“He just has to shoot more, has more volume, more confidence, more plays run for him, the offense is kind of flowing through him,” Maxey said of Bridges. “Hats off to him. Gonna be a tough job for us to stop him. We’re gonna play him not just one-on-one but a five-man defense. He’s gotta see a crowd every single time that he catches the ball.”

The Sixers only faced the Brooklyn version of Bridges once this season. During a 34-minute shift, Bridges scored 23 points on 44 percent shooting. While the Sixers came out on top with the victory, Bridges and the Nets kept the game tight as the Sixers won by just a three-point deficit.

Philly might be favored in the series, but they aren’t taking the new-look Nets lightly.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.