Suns coach Monty Williams happy Mikal Bridges is 'balling' in Brooklyn after Kevin Durant trade

Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams had continual jokes about Mikal Bridges when asked about how he’s been playing since the Suns traded him to Brooklyn in the blockbuster Kevin Durant deal.

“He’s shooting everything but a gun, man,” a laughing Williams said after Saturday’s practice. “Just call it what it is. I’ve texted with him a few times. I’m like, ‘Boy, you are shooting that thing.’”

Then Williams added that Bridges must sleep with his hands in shooting position before expressing his happiness for the player he coached for nearly four full seasons in Phoenix.

“We joke about it here,” Williams said. “Mikal is shooting the ball a lot and making a lot. I’m happy for him. I see him balling. That’s what I see. You know how it works. If we’re not playing him, I want him to succeed. I love him and Cam (Johnson) like family. Those boys have been balling since they got to Brooklyn.”

Bridges scored 23 of his 30 points in the first half in Brooklyn’s 121-101 Game 1 loss Saturday afternoon at Philadelphia in their Eastern Conference first-round series. His career playoff high is 31 points set last year at New Orleans in Phoenix’s Game 6 clincher in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Williams said he checked out some of the first half of Saturday's Nets-76ers game before the Suns started practice as they open their first-round series with Game 1 Sunday against the Clippers at Footprint Center.

“I only watched like three or four minutes and he got up like five shots,” a laughing Williams said. “I was like, oh my gosh. He is letting it go, but I’m just so happy for him to be in that position, to be close to his mom and his family and even Cam. All their family is back there. I’m just happy for him.”

Bridges attempted 16 shots in the first half Saturday, making 10.

“Sixteen shots here, he’d have to be the only guy playing,” Williams said. "I mess with him by text, but it’s funny watching him. He comes off that screen his hands are ready to shoot. It's hilarious.”

Suns All-Star Chris Paul said he talked with Bridges on Friday.

“I’m happy for him,” Paul said.

Paul then noted that his former teammate had scored just two points in the second half at the time he sat down to do his media interview at the Suns' practice facility.

Bridges attempted just two shots from the field (made both) in the second half, scoring seven points after the break.

“He’s got to figure it out,” Paul said.

Cam Johnson scored 18 points, going 4-of-6 from 3, in his Brooklyn playoff debut. The Suns traded Bridges, Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks and a pick swap to Brooklyn for Durant and T.J. Warren.

Bridges went from averaging 12.1 points on 9.1 shot attempts in 365 regular season games with Phoenix to 26.1 on 18.6 attempts in 27 games with the Nets.

Paul said the Suns could see this uptick in scoring from Bridges.

“Mikal put the work in,” Paul said. “Mikal is always working. There’s always guys in situations that, he’s a basketball player. He fills whatever role you need him to do. Going to Brooklyn, I think he’s just got more of a scoring responsibility. He had some big games here, but it’s all timing.”

Bridges averaged what was a career-best 17.2 points a game in Phoenix as he took on a bigger scoring role with Devin Booker and Paul missing considerable action with injuries.

The two-way wing averaged 19.5 points in the 21 games Booker missed with a left groin strain.

More: Phoenix Suns confident in NBA championship chances with Kevin Durant leading the way

“Everything is situational,” Booker said last week. “Obviously, the ball is in his hands a lot more there, but we saw it in him. The time that I missed, he was going crazy. I was the first one to always encourage him from his first shot in the NBA, like, ‘I need you to be aggressive. I need someone to take some pressure off.’ He’ll be the first one to tell you. I’m telling him to shoot more every time we played with each other. Now he’s getting that opportunity.”

Paul talked about how Bridges’ college teammate at Villanova, Jalen Brunson, is having the same impact in his first season with the Knicks after playing a secondary role with Luka Doncic and the Mavericks.

Brunson went from averaging 9.3 points in four seasons with Dallas to 24 this season with the Knicks. He averaged 17.6 last season, but Brunson has surpassed that in helping New York reach the playoffs.

He scored 27 points in leading New York to a Game 1 win Saturday in Cleveland.

“I’ve known him since he was like in the seventh or eighth grade,” Paul said about Brunson. “I knew what he was capable of. He just got a bigger opportunity.”

Suns injury update: Cameron Payne questionable for Game 1 vs. Clippers with back soreness

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns happy Mikal Bridges is 'balling' in Brooklyn after Durant trade