Miles Bridges wasted no time letting his presence be felt in his Phoenix Suns preseason debut.
After an errant pass from Devin Booker into the hands of Detroit Pistons guard Duncan Robinson on the first possession of the game, Bridges hustled back and poked the ball away for a steal. On the ensuing offensive possession, The Valley’s new addition punched home a tip-in dunk for his first points. He followed that great sequence by draining a corner three off a Booker pass and then set up new teammate Jalen Green for a dunk in transition, earning his first Suns assist.
And that was all in the first quarter.
Positive early returns from Suns’ Miles Bridges
In the grand scheme of things, preseason hoops counts about as much as summer league. Nevertheless, it’s a positive sign early on that Bridges was impacting the game on both ends. His rebounding prowess will be a huge key for the Suns this year. He led the way for the Suns' starters in that category, hauling in five boards (two offensive) to match the output of center Oso Ighodaro, who's set lofty goals for himself this season.
In 14 minutes of action, Bridges scored eight points (on 3-of-8 shooting), dished out four assists, and added the aforementioned steal to the box score with his five rebounds.
The shooting efficiency could have been better—he missed both of his 3-point tries after sinking his first from the corner—but there were plenty of promising signs for a guy just getting his feet wet with a new crop of teammates.
Bridges' flexing his passing was eye-catching
The assist total may stand out to Suns fans, provided his four dimes led all Suns players in the preseason opener. Although known more as a scorer and rebounder, Bridges notched a career-high 3.9 assists per contest in 2024-25. That’s an area of his game where he can really make a difference in Phoenix surrounded by shooters and offensive creators like Book, Dillon Brooks, and a now-healthy Jalen Green.
It was a larger takeaway for the Suns overall, who selflessly zipped the ball around on offense in the first half to find open shooters and cutters. When all five players on the court are willing to make the extra pass, it will make this Suns offense difficult to slow down.
Preseason exhibition games will predominantly be used to help players' conditioning and team chemistry. The latter did not look like it needed much work—yet another positive for a starting lineup adding Bridges and slotting in Ighodaro for the injured Mark Williams.
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