NEW YORK — Mikal Bridges’ consecutive games played streak lives on, even after he was forced to miss a game last week for the first time in his NBA career.
Bridges was acquired by the Brooklyn Nets from Phoenix last Thursday in the blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant. The deal was approved by the league too late for Bridges to play that night in the Nets’ game against Chicago, so he had to watch from the bench and was listed as “inactive – trade pending” in the official box score.
But the league determined that since Bridges wasn’t eligible to play, it shouldn’t count as a missed game. So his streak, the longest active one in the league, reached 367 games when the Nets visited the New York Knicks on Monday night.
Bridges also never missed a game in college, playing in all 116 at Villanova. Cam Johnson, Bridges’ close friend in Phoenix who came with him in the trade, joked that Bridges was “shaking” at the idea of not being able to play Thursday.
“He was like, ‘I’ve got to get out there, I’ve got to get out there,”‘ Johnson said.
Bridges can still play in 83 games this season, one more than an NBA team’s schedule. He had already played in 56 games with the Suns and the Nets had 27 remaining beginning Saturday.
Nets Coach Jacque Vaughn recently said he wanted players to view themselves like Cal Ripken Jr., baseball’s career leader in consecutive games played, and be able to have their name written in pen in the lineup every night.
Now he has the NBA’s current version of Ripken.
“Some things as a coach you want don’t want to think about and that’s one of the things,” Vaughn said. “Like, you want your dudes available on a nightly basis and Mikal Bridges is a guy that takes pride in that. He’s done it his whole career, so when you’re thinking about game planning and what’s next for the team, when you can pen a guy in on a nightly basis, that eases the mind of a coach.”
WARRIORS: Newly acquired guard Gary Payton II will be out for at least a month as he fully recovers from offseason surgery for a core muscle injury, and GM Bob Myers is awaiting a decision from the NBA on whether the Trail Blazers withheld anything on Payton’s health before trading him.
“What do I want? Whatever the NBA says is fair, just whatever that is,” Myers said of receiving any potential compensation from Portland. “I just want a fair result. I don’t know, whatever it takes it takes, I don’t know how long.”
Myers is hopeful the defensive guard could return before the playoffs. Payton is listed on the injury report with right adductor soreness, stemming from the abdominal area – and there were no further details on whether that means the high-flying Payton’s right leg is also compromised.
BUCKS: Forward Jae Crowder got so frustrated during his layoff that he sometimes yelled or cursed while watching multiple games simultaneously on the four televisions he’d set up at his home.
“I’d get mad,” Crowder said while talking to reporters for the first time since the Bucks acquired him at last week’s trade deadline. “I’d get frustrated because I’d know I was supposed to be in those situations at some point now, and I’m three or four months of not being in that situation.”
Crowder must wait a little longer before making his debut with his new team.
Coach Mike Budenholzer said Crowder won’t start playing with Milwaukee until after the All-Star break. Crowder won’t be available when the Bucks put their 10-game winning streak on the line Tuesday against the NBA-leading Boston Celtics or when they visit Chicago two nights later.
Crowder hasn’t played at all this season after making 67 starts and averaging 9.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists for the Phoenix Suns in 2021-22. The Suns announced in late September that Crowder wouldn’t be joining them for training camp in what was described as a mutual decision. They’d been working on a trade for him ever since.
The 32-year-old Crowder wouldn’t specify what caused his issues with the Suns.
“I just feel like it’s behind me now,” Crowder said. “We had some stuff happen internally that they asked me to keep inside, so I’m going to grant their wishes. Obviously I’ve been working with these guys for a trade partner for months now. I think give or take they did exactly what they said they was going to do. Took longer than what we all expected, but it got done.”
The Suns moved him to the Brooklyn Nets in the deal that brought Kevin Durant to Phoenix. The Bucks acquired Crowder by sending three second-round picks plus forward Jordan Nwora, guard George Hill and center Serge Ibaka to the Indiana Pacers and shipping two second-round picks to Brooklyn. The Pacers later waived Ibaka.
The Bucks believe Crowder’s presence as a 3-point shooter and big wing defender boosts their bid to win a second title in three seasons. The question is how soon he will be in peak form after not playing all season.
FILMS FOR FANS: The NBA will launch “NBA Films for Fans” during All-Star weekend festivities in Salt Lake City.
The initiative involves filmmakers from 11 countries developing 24 short films that were commissioned by the NBA. The NBA is hoping the films provide a deeper outlook into the milestones and events that shape the league’s influence across the globe from the filmmaker’s perspective.
Filmmakers were given access to the league’s video archives for either historical content or action from this season.
MONDAY’S GAMES
76ERS 123, ROCKETS 104: James Harden had 29 points and 10 assists against his former team and Tyrese Maxey scored 26 off the bench as Philadelphia won at home.
Joel Embiid scored 23 points in 31 minutes for the Sixers, who have won three in a row and improved to 22-8 at home.
Jalen Green scored 29 points for the Rockets, who have lost six straight to fall to a league-worst 13-44.
CAVALIERS 117, SPURS 109: Donovan Mitchell scored 41 points and led Cleveland to its seventh straight win, sending visiting San Antonio to its 13th straight loss.
Mitchell made five 3-pointers and scored 23 in the first half, helping the Cavs build an 18-point lead.
San Antonio’s slide equals the longest in club history. The Spurs also lost 13 straight during the 1988-89 season. Coincidentally, that streak also reached 13 with a loss at Cleveland on March 2, 1989.
JAZZ 123, PACERS 117: Jordan Clarkson and Lauri Markkanen each scored 29 points and visiting Utah beat Indiana.
HORNETS 144, HAWKS 138: LaMelo Ball had 30 points and 15 assists, Terry Rozier added 29 points and Charlotte held off visiting Atlanta to snap a seven-game losing streak.
Gordon Hayward scored 26 points and P.J. Washington added 22 as the Hornets shot 63% from the field. Ball had six 3-pointers and Rozier hit five as Charlotte tied a season high with 20 made 3s.
NUGGETS 112, HEAT 108: Nikola Jokic finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and Denver snapped Miami’s eight-game home winning streak.
Jokic made 12 of 14 shots, and Denver shot 58%.
Jimmy Butler had 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Heat.
KNICKS 124, NETS 106: Jalen Brunson scored 40 points, Josh Hart added a season-high 27 in his second game with his new team and the Knicks snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Brooklyn Nets, winning at Madison Square Garden.
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