© David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Mikal Bridges airs his frustration after the 50-point loss to the Celtics
The Nets had the second-worst result in franchise history by losing to the Boston Celtics by 50 points. It was the most embarrassing game of the season, and players should be frustrated about the result.
Nets star Mikal Bridges is often calm and muted during post-game press conferences, but he showed fiery frustration after this loss. That is an encouraging sign because the Nets need to take this loss personally and use it as motivation for the second half of the season.
"The effort, we control that. That's the biggest part, whatever the game plan was, we have to do that with effort. We didn't have that, especially in the beginning," Mikal said in his post-game interview. "You can't just let this go and think like, oh let it drop, like no. You got beat by 50, it's not just let it go. A lot of sh*t is not right, and you gotta fix it."
Mikal has the right to be frustrated
As the Nets' best player and supposed foundation, Mikal has the right to be angry with what transpired at the TD Garden. The Nets laid down and took a beating from the league's best team, even though they were mostly a healthy team.
Granted, Ben Simmons was not present due to injury maintenance, but the Nets could've competed better. Mikal wants his teammates to show more effort because Brooklyn is a much better team compared to the squad that lost by 50 points.
Of course, Mikal is also doing his best to hold himself accountable, but the rest of the team needs to meet the standard. That goes not only for the players but also for Jacque Vaughn and the coaching staff, as Mikal stated that he wants everyone to be better, including the set plays.
The Nets should be better after All-Star Weekend
The loss to the Celtics should serve as a wake-up call to the entire Nets organization. The team was embarrassed by a team they almost beat just a day earlier. That kind of adjustment from Boston should inspire Brooklyn to do the same after the All-Star break.
Mikal will spearhead that mission for improvement because the Nets are much better than their record suggests. The team is healthy after the upcoming eight-day break, which is the time for Brooklyn to capitalize and win more games to make the Play-In Tournament.
