Nets’ Mikal Bridges Says ‘A Lot of S–t is Not Right’ After 50-Point Loss to Celtics

Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRTFeatured Columnist IVFebruary 15, 2024

Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Mikal Bridges was not happy, and understandably so, after his Brooklyn Nets were hammered by the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, 136-86.

“We got beat by 50,” he told reporters. “It’s not just let it go. A lot of s–t is not right. And you got to fix it.”

“They kicked our ass tonight,” Dennis Schröder added.

It was a brutal night for the Nets. The team managed just 15 points in the first quarter, 17 in the second and was already trailing 68-32 by halftime.

Bridges was the team’s only starter to hit double-digit points, and he only had 10 points, finishing the game 4-of-12 from the field. The rest of the team didn’t fare much better, as the Nets finished 31-of-81 on field goals, just 38.3 percent.

The Celtics, meanwhile, shot a cool 57.8 percent from the field (52-of-90) and 50 percent from three (22-of-44). They also demolished the Nets on the board, finishing with a 51-31 rebounding margin.

“We talked about these games going into the [All-Star] break, and sometimes what they can look like if your entire focus and concentration isn’t on every possession and the game itself,” head coach Jacque Vaughn told reporters after the shellacking. “[The Celtics are] too good of a team to not be totally engaged and locked in from start to finish. Because of that, we paid for it, and paid for it in a difficult way.”

YES Network @YESNetworkJacque Vaughn: “We got our tails kicked tonight. After the break it won’t be any easier, but we have to be up for the challenge.” pic.twitter.com/HGtSYzSG7G

The Nets are now just 21-33 on the season and feel like a team without a true identity.

Because they lack a superstar and don’t have many true building blocks outside of Bridges, it’s hard to know which fork in the road they’ll take—will they bottom out and trade their top players, rebuilding through the draft? Or will they be able to use role players and their ample draft capital to add stars in trades while seeking creative ways to generate cap space to further solidify through free agency?

The latter may be a tall task outside of sign-and-trade scenarios, given the team is already on the books for about $132 million in salaries next season. And the most prohibitive contract belongs to Ben Simmons, who at this point is a negative asset and will be costly to offload.

In the NBA, it’s generally best to either be a contender or rebuilding around young stars. The Nets are currently in starless purgatory—even Bridges is probably best cast as a contender’s third-best player—and have begun playing listless, uninspired basketball. Changes are coming in the summer, that much is certain.