Bridges’ 42 helps Nets all but seal playoff spot

Locked in a second-quarter tie with Atlanta, the Nets used an extended blitz and MVP-level performance from Mikal Bridges to win the game. And likely win their way into the playoffs proper, as well.

After a clutch result in Miami last weekend lifted the Nets out of the dreaded play-in, Friday’s Bridges-led 124-107 victory over the Hawks before a sellout crowd of 17,849 at Barclays Center may have put the issue to bed.

Bridges’ game-high 42-point performance gave the Nets (42-35) a two-game lead over the seventh-place Heat for the sixth and final guaranteed playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, as well as the tiebreaker. The Nets also hold a four-game cushion on the eighth-place Hawks and ninth-place Raptors.

It also earned him “MVP!” chants that at least for a night didn’t seem misplaced.

“Yeah, I mean it’s crazy. I obviously wasn’t expecting [that]. I was loving the Brooklyn Bridges chant and then out of nowhere the MVP came,” Bridges said. “But it’s just a lot of love, man. That’s the biggest thing I take away from being here. It’s just the love from the city and the fans. And even when I’m home or walking around, just people are just big Nets fans and just showing love.

“It’s just a blessing, man. They made me feel so welcome, where I was pretty upset about leaving Phoenix or getting traded from Phoenix because all my friends and all my teammates and the staff and I still miss the hell out all of them and all the fans. But they made me just be so into Brooklyn right away just from the love they’ve been showing. So I thank them a lot.”

Bridges’ persona has endeared the fans to him, but so has his game. He finished March with 461 points, the second-best month in team history and just 10 points behind the former MVP he was traded for: Kevin Durant.

“I’ve been watching KD since I was a kid, been one of my favorite players . ... He’s arguably for me just one of the best scorers ever,” Bridges said. “So to even compare myself to that coming in was definitely nothing I’d compare to . ... That’s why we have me and Cam [Johnson], we could even out the numbers, us two for his. But no, that’s an unbelievable stat. That’s crazy.”

With just five games left, the playoffs proper now seem a fait accompli.

The Nets shot a white-hot 55.7 percent, and 15-for-33 from behind the arc. And as has been their wont, much of that offense was fueled by their defense.

The Nets may not have been prolific in transition, but they got enough stops to get into early offense. They held Atlanta to 42.9 percent shooting, and just 8-for-37 from behind the arc. Spencer Dinwiddie handed out 12 assists, but his greatest contribution may have been smothering Trae Young to 10 quiet points on 3-for-12 shooting, and 0 of 5 from behind the arc.

Dorian Finney-Smith added 19 points and huge minutes at small-ball center to spark the key run. The Nets have won three of four since a five-game losing skid.

“Even though we were losing we felt like we were coming together as a team,” Finney-Smith said. “We haven’t been in that many battles together, but we’re still learning each other and we’re figuring it out, we’re telling on ourselves.”

Trailing 45-37, the Nets used a 14-4 run — including the last seven unanswered points — to go ahead 51-49. Johnson (16 points) twisted through the lane to cap off the run.

Young finally got on the board with a step-back jumper to pull Atlanta even with 3:16 left in the half. And it was knotted at 55-all, before Brooklyn blew it open.

The Nets used a 36-16 run that spanned the half to take complete control.

By the time Bridges capped the run by taking a Royce O’Neale feed for a reverse layup, the lead was up to 91-71. There was 4:18 left in the third quarter, but the game was over.