Mikal Bridges

Phoenix found a way to close, improving to 50-0 this season when leading after three quarters.

... Payne gave the Suns a boost with seven points in the first quarter. The Pelicans had a 42-15 advantage in free throws during Game 4, which the Suns lost. He averaged just 4.8 points through the first four games of the series. “We have to change the way we start a game and come out with energy,” Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas said. ... Phoenix was just 1 of 9 from three-point range before closing the first half by hitting 4 of 6. The point guard got the technical after being whistled for an eight-second violation. “It’s out of control, that’s ridiculous,” Paul said. Paul had 16 points before the break while Ayton added 13. That’s a big deal.” The Suns took an 89-78 lead into the final quarter after Cameron Payne’s late three-pointer. That is an area where we know we have to be better.” I’m itching my knee right now, talking about it.

Mikal Bridges, welcome to the land of NBA Twitter playoff hyperbole. The Phoenix Suns forward stepped up in a massive way.

Phoenix struggled to generate offense in Game 4 without its leading scorer but seemed to find a rhythm on the back of Bridges in Game 5. "You can't clone him, but you wish you could. "You can't clone him, but you wish you could," Suns coach Monty Williams said after the game. Mikal Bridges is the 7th player in NBA history to have 30 points, 4 made threes, and 4 blocks in a playoff game.

The others? He continued his emergence as a two-way force during the regular season and narrowly finished second behind Marcus Smart in Defensive Player of the Year voting. He held the Pelicans to 7 points on 3-of-17 shooting as the primary defender.

In the series, New Orleans is shooting 36% from the floor and has turned the ball over 12 times when Bridges is defending.

Bridges, with Suns star Devin Booker out with an injury, played a game-high 47 minutes, racking up 31 points (12-17 FG, 4-4 3FG, 3-3 FT), 5 rebounds, ...

The Suns' 25-year-old forward slows Pelicans' stars on defense, scores 31 on offense, and plays all but 66 seconds in 112-97 win in Game 5.

“He covers up a lot of mistakes,” Williams said. “And to play that kind of defense and only have one foul says a lot about his IQ and understanding the way the game is being called.” A lot of times when you talk about a guy covering up mistakes, it’s usually a big, but he does it from the wing, which is really hard.” “That’s why to us, he was our Defensive Player of the Year. He plays every … single … night. “We put him on everybody,” Williams said of his Bridges’ defense. He credited big men Deandre Ayton and JaVale McGee for giving him the confidence to be aggressive, knowing that they would be there to clean up any errors.

Here are five takeaways from the Phoenix Suns taking Game 5 over the Pelicans to go up 3-2 in this best-of-7 Western Conference first-round series.

That led to Green putting Hayes back in and sitting his starting center. That was huge because Valancinuas hadn't really been in foul trouble so far in this series. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin. "It’s so crazy in this league, everybody talks about when guys miss games and you know, sitting out," Suns point guard Chris Paul said. I need to calm down, I need to breathe, but I’m just ready, man. Payne had it going not only scoring, but he showed the speed and energy that had been lacking so far in this series. "They’re not playing in this nationally televised game, but how do you credit a guy who straps them up every night? With the Pelicans controlling the glass in this series — in large part due to playing two bigs, Jonas Valanciunas with either Jaxson Hayes and Larry Nance Jr., — the Biyombo hint evoked memories of Williams playing McGee and Biyombo together this season. He got in rookie Jose Alvarado's head and had the rookie flustered. Paul didn't make a 3, but got to the line in attempting four free throws and still got other people involved six assists in the first half. The top-seeded Suns can end this series in Thursday's Game 6 in New Orleans. Bridges just took that to another level in Tuesday night's Game 5 victory, 112-97, to give the Suns a 3-2 series lead heading into Thursday's Game 6 in New Orleans.

Mikal Bridges went berserk in Game 5, lit the Pelicans defense up, and stood firm at the Suns' 1st line of defense.

The DPOY finalist, while playing almost all throughout the game, allowed just 7 points, caused multiple turnovers, and made 4 blocks. Meanwhile, Mikal Bridges had the game of his life. The series stood even again at 2 each when Suns and Pelicans took on each other on Tuesday, and the three stars had the responsibility of showing up, and boy didn’t they do it well.

Mikal Bridges had perhaps the best offensive and defensive game of his career in leading the Suns to a Game 5 win over the Pelicans on Tuesday night.

He was a vital cog in everything the Suns did as he took his second-most shots in a game this season. McCollum had 21 points but missed 15 of 22 shots and is shooting just 37% in the series, and Bridges has been the biggest reason for it. The plan called for Paul bring the ball up the floor less to conserve energy and dodge double-teams the Pelicans used in force in Game 4. Paul missed time earlier this season because of a right thumb injury and appeared to injure a finger on the same hand in the second quarter of Sunday's Game 4 loss. "Seventeen years, same thing," Paul said of the Pelicans' strategy. And he played all but 66 seconds of the game.

Mikal Bridges was playing his 47th minute of basketball on Tuesday night when he leaped into the air, threw down a huge two-handed jam and pulled himself up ...

The Pelicans had a 42-15 advantage in foul shots during Game 4, which the Suns lost. ... Payne gave the Suns a boost with seven points in the first quarter. He averaged just 4.8 points through the first four games of the series. ... Phoenix was just 1 of 9 from 3-point range before closing the first half by hitting 4 of 6. "If we didn’t have that struggle in the first half, it would have been a different game. That's a big deal." The point guard got the technical after being whistled for an eight-second violation. "It's out of control, that's ridiculous," Paul said. "I just thought that we made some timely mistakes, starting with the turnovers," Pelicans coach Willie Green said. Paul had 16 points before the break while Ayton added 13. The Suns took an 89-78 lead into the final quarter after Cameron Payne’s late 3-pointer. "It is what it is.

It would've been nice to see Bridges step up in the moment, especially since his defense — primarily on Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum — was well below his ...

His level of activity and aggression was a much-needed boost to the Suns' offense. Jones does a great job of sticking with Paul and forcing the retreat, but there's Bridges running into a handoff and flowing right into an elbow middy. It's a weapon to complement a pick-and-roll when Bridges is isolated on a side. Then, he begins his cut as soon as Ayton catches the ball. He's a darn good shooter — he's converted roughly 42% of his corner threes over the past three seasons — but he's also an instinctual mover. McCollum does his best to rotate down from the opposite corner, but there's only so much he can do with the size difference. The Pelicans trust him with tough on-ball assignments, but he's also a menace off the ball. There were on-ball reps sprinkled in from Bridges, and you'll see some clips of them, but Tuesday night's showing was a masterclass in staying light on your feet — reading the floor, moving with your teammates and sliding into spaces that defenders have either vacated or simply can't get to. And then, there are the lifts from the corner. His Game 4 showing, however, was one of the rare times that his quiet nature was objectively a bad thing. But then, there was the offense. That kind of two-way dominance is impressive enough, but doing so while playing all but [checks notes] one minute and six seconds is phenomenal stuff.