Nets Mikal Bridges opens playoffs in his hometown

Nets’ star Mikal Bridges grew up in Philadelphia, played his college basketball at Villanova and rooted for the Philadelphia 76ers. Well, that was until he was traded by the Sixers to the Phoenix Suns in 2018 during his draft.

Now he’ll get the chance to play his first playoff series with the Nets in his hometown. Bridges, who has turned into a star in Brooklyn since arriving in February, said that he expects to have a large number of friends and family in the crowd.

And while Bridges has given up his fandom of the Sixers, he hasn’t forgotten the roots.

“Yeah, I was a huge Sixers fan. I mean, everybody knows that,” Bridges said. “Just grew up in Philly and grew up going all the games in the world. So yeah, definitely big A.I. big, big Iggy guy, a lot of guys. So I know pretty much everybody when I was growing up.”

The names Bridges mentioned were stars in Philadelphia, but now the forward goes to The City of Brotherly Love as a star himself. The Philly native has become the go-to guy for the Nets since he was picked up as part of the trade that sent Kevin Durant to Phoenix.

He has been scoring 26.1 points per game and his shooting line has been amazing at 475/.376/.894. The breakout second half of the season has made Bridges the guy teams are game-planning for, which likely includes the Sixers as they prepare to face the Nets in the first round.

Brooklyn Nets forward Mikal Bridges interacts with a fan before an NBA basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Sunday, April 9, 2023 in New York.AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh

“It’s going to be tough for sure. I know how it is: I know how game-planning for top players is. I know being the defender guarding the guy, so I know how the scout can be,” Bridges said. “It’s a challenge. And it’s great, man. It’s great for all of us. All it’s going to do is make us better.

“Just being aggressive and making the right read, that’s the biggest thing, just simple basketball sometimes. Just guarding the main guys all the time and not allowing them to break free and get out. Sometimes a simple play always works as well. If they blitz or trap, always just getting the easy (play), getting the hockey assist or getting the funnel going. Just playing good basketball, simple basketball will help.”

The Nets and Sixers open up the series on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Wells Fargo Center. The series opener will air nationally on ESPN and locally on My9 and the YES app.