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The Phoenix Suns have benefitted a lot due to Chris Paul’s inclusion to a young roster, but players such as Mikal Bridges have also been a vital part of the team’s success over the past year. Bridges, who is close to finishing his third NBA season, enjoyed what was comprehensively his best season. He has shown a remarkable progress over the past 12 months on both ends of the court.
Mikal Bridges averaged 13.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists whilst shooting at over 42% from the three-point zone and has in recent months been guarding the best player on opposite teams. This has thrown him against the likes of Lebron James and Paul George in the NBA Playoffs so far, jobs that he has completed to the best of effect. In this article, we look at what Mikal Bridges needs to do in order to ensure that his team ends up victorious in the 2021 NBA Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks.
NBA Finals 2021: What Mikal Bridges needs to do to help his team to victory
Mikal Bridges has been hugely impacted by the coaching of Monty Williams. In the 2019-20 NBA season, Bridges started just 32 matches and averaged 9.1 points and four rebounds whilst shooting at slightly more than 36% from the three-point zone. While Bridges is hardly a ball-handler or a playmaker, his two-way skills and the fact that he has emerged as one of the best three-and-D players in the NBA in the past season has made him vital performer in one of the most surprising teams of the NBA this season.
Apart from his shooting that has seen a massive improvement, Bridges has vastly increased his shooting volume and was always an able defender capable of guarding multiple positions. His fitness has been faultless this year and Bridges has started each and every game in the NBA. He has regularly come good especially in the recent injury-stricken run that the Phoenix Suns had.
Monty Williams earlier explained that he had a rather difficult conversation with Mikal Bridges at the start of the season,
“He wasn’t quite sure how he was going to fit in here, and we weren’t quite sure how to help him. He wasn’t as consistent as we wanted earlier in the year, and he and I had a pretty vulnerable conversation about what I expected but also about how I could help him. And to his credit, he embraced everything I asked of him.”
Now, as the Phoenix Suns come up against a Milwaukee Bucks side that tends to leave their center deep inside and have multiple offensive threats capable of running in with the ball, Mikal Bridges is expected to play an important role. He will be on the lookout for easy buckets and should be defensively busy as well, considering the offensive talent that the Milwaukee Bucks have.
Mikal Bridges might not be the strongest of defenders, but a large wingspan and an ability to defend multiple positions along with his three-point shooting. That, combined with the fact that the Milwaukee Bucks tend to play in transition, means that he will play an important role in the 2021 NBA Finals.
Guess the Lakers players!
