His third game in Brooklyn he dropped 45 in a win over the Heat. The kid has nine games of 30 points or more and seven of those have come since the All-Star Break. In two less minutes per game, Mikal 's upped his field goal percentage by 4.3% to 50.6%, his three point percentage by 7.1% to 45.8% on 5.9 attempts, maintained his rebounding and stocks numbers while boosting his scoring from 17.2 to 26.3 points per game. The 6'6 small forward went from being the third or fourth option on offense on any given night to Option 1a for the Nets and the kid hasn't let them down. The standout since Brooklyn swapped their priorities has been Mikal Bridges. That Clipper's game is still paying dividends on my dopamine levels. Also, sorry to break this up but I'm looking at the numbers here and the Kings are averaging 130.2 points per game since the All-Star Break. They're scoring a point and a half less per game at 112.5 a contest, also 24th in the NBA post All-Star Break, while also giving up 4.9 more points per game. Their 34.8% from deep has been well, 24th best in the NBA since the break. So what's changed since the trade? Well, the Nets are shooting eight threes more per game than they were prior to the All-Star Break - their 40.0 attempts would put them in the Top 5 most in the NBA. They're definitely still a team trying to find their identity, but when the get rolling, they can hang with the best of them. In March, they've been blown out by the Knicks, beat the Celtics, Hornets and Rockets, lost to the Bucks by 5 in a game where they spotted the Bucks 17 in the 1st quarter, beat the Wolves and Nuggets and coughed up a 10 point lead in the second half against an OKC team with the 10th best net rating in the NBA this season. And now, the Kings are on their second night of a back-to-back, having traveled last night and now facing a Nets team that is, 1) coming off a loss to OKC, 2) sitting on a day's rest and 3) is probably better than that Chicago team. Yes, the Kings did ultimately win the game, but it took future Jerry West Award winner De'Aaron Fox burying a three right before the buzzer sounded to do it. They're the Bad News Bears, minus the blatant alcoholism, misogyny and racism!Īnd well, they're absolutely good enough to beat this Kings squad.Īs we all witnessed in Chicago last night, the Kings are still capable of laying stinkers. Hell, Jacque Vaughn's quote about not being his wife's first choice has gone from pitiable to, dare I say, endearing. They're underdogs, cast offs, young, unrealized potential and Ben Simmons. No, as a consumer of all NBA drama, I like this new squad. (but enough about the Kings!) The Nets are easily that turnaround team of the deadline for me - exorcising the last two of their "Big Three" entities, who haunted the halls outside of the Barclay Center's training rooms and medical facilities, cursed to spread their bad vibes as long as they were allowed to remain together. Mik' a Bridge Over Troubled Water: It's amazing how quick a team can go from one that I despise everything their built up to a team that I am now actively rooting for on a nightly basis.
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