As long as he’s a member of the Brooklyn Nets, Mikal Bridges will have at least four opportunities every season to tell the Sixers directly to their faces what could’ve been theirs.
He’ll get at least three more chances this season, too.
The first half of Saturday’s Game 1 between Brooklyn and Philadelphia was a bolded reminder that the Sixers made a mistake in the 2018 NBA draft, trading the draft rights to Bridges to Phoenix for a future unprotected first-round pick and the draft rights to Zhaire Smite less than 20 minutes after selecting the local kid with the 10th overall pick. In the first 24 minutes of Saturday’s Game 1 in Philadelphia, Bridges silenced any doubts that the apex predator offensive numbers he put up in 27 regular-season games with the Nets would translate to the playoffs.
He logged a game-high 23 points on 10-for-16 shooting by halftime, an objectively great single-half line for anyone in the NBA.
Still, the Nets were outscored by 10 points in the minutes Bridges was on the court. As long as they got the win, the Sixers could’ve justified sticking with defensive schemes that allowed him to get his all game. But, that wasn’t good enough for the home team.
The second half was when Joel Embiid decided to step up — literally.
The Sixers gave Bridges ample space in the high pick-and-roll in the first half. They shaded Embiid away from the level of the screen and tasked the ball defender with chasing the Villanova product around those screens.
He executed beautifully, slowing down after clearing the screen and pulling up for midrange jumpers if Embiid played a few steps below the level:
If the coverage shaded Embiid more towards the rim, Bridges used the entire rope the Sixers gave him. He got as close to the basket as he could for short jumpers and floaters:
Embiid subtly started to adjust even before halftime. He took Bridges on switches and played higher in the coverage to eat up what would’ve been the space to get downhill.
The Nets’ new top dog got another opportunity to inflate his output in the final minutes of the second quarter. Embiid was spelled by Paul Reed. Brooklyn targeted a Bridges matchup with James Harden as Philadelphia turned to a switch scheme.
But, the fun and games were over for Bridges after…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Basketball Archives – The Painted Lines…