Mikal Bridges nears revenge series with 76ers
The 76ers traded Mikal Bridges on draft night. He's one win away from a chance at payback.
Bridges scored 26 points as the Brooklyn Nets moved to one win (or one Miami loss) from clinching the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. The 26-year-old forward is averaging 27.4 points since a February trade sent him to Brooklyn for Kevin Durant, a rate that would put him eighth in the league for the whole season.
Bridges did it on both ends for Brooklyn. He hit difficult shots.
And he made plays on the other end that showed why he was second in last year's Defensive Player of the Year voting.
That sets Brooklyn up for a first-round matchup with the 76ers, who already had a history with the Nets, but now they have a history with their new star.
Bridges was born in Philadelphia and went to school in the Philly area. Then he went to Villanova, a suburb of Philadelphia, where he won two national titles. Then the 76ers, where Bridges' mother, Tyneeha Rivers worked as vice president of human resources, drafted him with the No. 10 pick in the 2018 draft.
The storybook Philly story didn't last long. Minutes later, Philadelphia traded Bridges to Phoenix for No. 16 pick Zhaire Smith and a future pick. Acting general manager Brett Brown reportedly apologized to Bridges' mom "a gazillion times."
When the season began, Philly fans were geared up to boo Ben Simmons, who sat out the 2021-22 season and forced a trade to the Sixers. But now he's been shut down for the season, and the revenge motive is firmly in Brooklyn's corner now. Nets fans, if they truly exist, can boo James Harden for forcing a trade out of New York. And both Bridges and Seth Curry can nurse a grudge against the Sixers for trading them.
Revenge is good motivation, though it's not as good as having someone big enough to guard Joel Embiid. Still, having a two-way star with a chip on his shoulder is a lot better than nothing.
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