Nets’ Mikal Bridges says team ‘relaxed a bit’ in loss to Thunder
Brooklyn Nets forward Mikal Bridges had arguably the best performance for Brooklyn, but even he admitted that the team took its foot off the gas in the second half. In a game that the Nets had control of in the first half, it seems that the script was flipped on them with regards to a second-half comeback.
In Tuesday’s 121-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Bridges had 34 points, but those points came on 11-of-23 shooting from the field and 3-of-10 shooting from three-point land. Bridges did block four shots in the contest, but it was clear that this wasn’t his most efficient offensive game. He also had the tough task of guarding Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the other end so that may have contributed to the less-than-ideal shooting.
The third quarter appeared to be the difference in this game as Brooklyn went from being up 62-52 at halftime to being down 90-82 by the end of the third quarter. The Thunder won the third quarter 38-20 thanks to Oklahoma City forward Lugentz Dort making five three-pointers in the period. Bridges reacted to the second half letdown in his postgame interview:
“I think we kind of maybe just relaxed a little bit because they’re (the Thunder) not gonna stop, you know? A couple of times you don’t be there, they’re gonna keep going (to the basket). So, It’s just the urgency, you just to stay locked in and keep making them kick it out. But, credit to those guys you know, and making the right play and you know, like I said Lu (Dort) making them threes kind of helped that dimension. They was small first in the second half so switching things up so credit to them and the coach.”
