Mikal Bridges leads Suns, plays 47 minutes in Game 5 win vs. Pelicans
The Phoenix Suns' Mikal Bridges proved why he finished second in NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting on Tuesday night.
Mikal Bridges #25 of the Phoenix Suns puts up a three-point shot over Herbert Jones #5 of the New Orleans Pelicans during the first half of Game Five of the Western Conference First Round NBA Playoffs at Footprint Center on April 26, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Phoenix Suns wing Mikal Bridges proved why he finished second in NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting on Tuesday night at Footprint Center.
In a 112-97 win over the New Orleans Pelicans in Game 5 of their first-round series, Bridges led the Suns with a playoff career-high 31 points on nearly 47 minutes played to take a 3-2 lead in the series.
Bridges defended the Pelicans’ two most-lethal scorers: C.J. McCollum and Brandon Ingram, the latter of whom he had not spent much time against in the first four games of the first-round series.
McCollum and Ingram combined to shoot 14-of-41 (34%).
Mikal Bridges tonight:
31 points on 17 shots
Defended CJ McCollum for 36 plays, held him to 10 points on 3/11 shooting
Defended Brandon Ingram for 34 plays, held him to 7 points on 2/5 plus 3 turnovers
All that in 46:54 of playing time
Extraordinary performance for the Suns.
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) April 27, 2022
Bridges added five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a whopping four blocks — a postseason career-high for the fourth-year pro.
4 blocks 🖐🏾
Mikal Bridges is at a postseason career high! pic.twitter.com/9qDuv2EHvt
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) April 27, 2022
In fact, the only Suns player to register a block on the night was Phoenix’s ironman.
Bridges shot an astounding 70.6% on the night on 12-of-17 attempts in addition to a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range and the free throw line while only committing one turnover.
The Suns will travel to New Orleans for Game 6 with a chance to win the series on Thursday.
Tip-off from Smoothie King Center is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Arizona time on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.
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