Miles Bridges Was 'Impressive' in First NBA Game in Over 500 Days

Friday night marked the return of Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges.

No one knew what to really expect from Miles Bridges in his first NBA game in 583 days other than it may take him a little while to get into rhythm to shake off the rust. 

There were moments where you could tell Bridges was doing exactly that but for the most part, he looked like he's been a part of the Hornets' rotation all season long. He did a good job on the defensive end of the floor not only guarding his man, but communicating and helping in the paint.

Offensively, Bridges shot an efficient 6-of-13 from the floor, including 2-of-5 from three-point range. He finished the game with 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 33(!) minutes of action. Hornets head coach Steve Clifford noted earlier in the week that Bridges would have a "significant role" but I'm not sure anyone saw him getting 30+ minutes in his season debut.

"It’s impressive. I didn’t mean to play him that much," Clifford said in his postgame press conference. "Obviously with the Nick (Richards) injury we got messed up, then with Brandon’s (Miller) foul trouble. I was going to try because of the back-to-back to keep him around 28 minutes, but he looked good. He didn’t seem to be overly fatigued, so we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.

"How you sub is everything – finding the right people to be on the floor with the other right people is, once you start the season, almost what you spend all your time on. I think he plays in a manner where he’s easy to play with. Plus when you make out lineups, because he plays at both ends of the floor, you’re not covering for him or making sure you don’t have another poor defender out there or anything like that, so he actually makes decisions like that pretty easy. …He brings energy. He’s very positive with his teammates on the floor. He’s got toughness. He’s a very good competitor. Those are all intangible things where you need as many guys like that as possible. I don’t think there’s a phase of the game where he doesn’t help you.”

Bucks Defeat Hornets in Miles Bridges' Season Debut

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