Bridges has ‘Magic’ touch vs. Orlando

Mikal Bridges was frustrated that he and his teammates couldn’t continue their perfect homestand last Thursday night vs. Charlotte.

So he went out and made sure the Nets would finish 4-1 on their longest Brooklyn layover of the season.

“I was ready to play,” Bridges said after scoring 42 points, including 26 during an historic first quarter, to lead the Nets to a 129-101 rout of the Orlando Magic Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 17,966 at Downtown’s Barclays Center.

“Just didn’t like that loss against Charlotte,” Bridges added. “Just wanted to win the game.”

Thanks to Bridges’ hot start, which saw him go 8-for-11 from the field for the most first-quarter points in an NBA game since Luca Doncic put up 28 vs. the Los Angeles Clippers two seasons ago, Brooklyn (10-9) hardly had to worry about putting this one in the win column.

The Magic (14-6), who came in as the league’s hottest team with nine consecutive wins, trailed 43-22 after 12 minutes and were down 73-51 at intermission.

Though Orlando did crawl within single digits in the third quarter and got the lead down to 10 again early in the fourth, Cam Thomas answered with a 3-pointer, Dennis Smith Jr., threw down a dunk and Thomas added a 10-foot floater to extend the advantage to 105-88 with 9:46 remaining.

Bridges hit a pair of free throws, converted a three-point play and sank a 12-footer with just under five minutes to go to give the Nets a 116-96 cushion.

He finished 12-for-20 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, and 15-of-18 at the foul line to finish three points shy of his career high, established twice previously with…