© Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Mikal Bridges shoulders blame in Nets' humiliating loss vs. lowly Grizzlies: "It just sucks"
After dropping a huge 38 points to propel the Brooklyn Nets' second-straight dub over the Atlanta Hawks last weekend, Mikal Bridges seemed to be heating up as it matters the most.
But in what could've been a much easier showcase for them on Monday night at the Barclays Center while facing a handicapped, lottery-bound Memphis Grizzlies squad with no Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Marcus Smart, Mikal came up disappointing yet again as the Nets endured a gut-wrenching 106-102 loss.
Blame taken
For another unexpected moment, Mikal was underwhelming for Brooklyn as they couldn't ask for the best opportunity to win and elevate themselves for the Play-In race.
Logging a game-high 39 minutes, Bridges failed to productively produce as he finished with an awful 14 points. He also shot horribly by going off for an inconsistent 4-14 from the field with 2-8 from the three-point land.
For that, Bridges openly understands that he made the entire group down with the mediocre showing he displayed.
“Maybe [we] relaxed a little bit but yeah, they just played harder than us. I think they outrebounded us by a lot. I take a lot of credit on both ends – defensively as well – just boxing out, not getting the rebound and stuff like that. So it’s just tough,” Bridges said. “This is just a bad one for me, and [I] take a lot of blame for [it]. It just sucks. But you’ve gotta get ready for [the 76ers].”
No time to wait for Mikal to step up
Mikal has stretched his passiveness as his 14-point night serves as the fifth in the team's last six games in which he dropped 15 points or lower. With Cam Thomas out, who is continuing his ankle recovery, the Nets are screaming for a much better demonstration coming from the star swingman.
As Brooklyn cannot afford to sustain a record downslide further, we can only see if Mikal will truly deliver a bounce-back game against the Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow.
