The Philadelphia 76ers finished a three-game homestand on Monday night with a matchup against the Phoenix Suns, who, at the time, were the top team in the Western Conference. As Chris Paul and Devin Booker arrived, the Sixers welcomed back the heart of their franchise, Joel Embiid, who had missed the previous three games due to a non-Covid illness.
From the jump, the Sixers — led by Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris — hit the throttle and put the Suns on their heels on both ends of the court. Philadelphia undoubtedly set the tone finishing the first quarter with a double-digit lead, 33-20.
Early on, Embiid was engaged, assertive, and seemed to be back at a level even more true to self than he had been in any other game this season. As the game progressed, however, it became clear that Joel did not yet have his legs fully under him (which also makes his performance a bit more impressive).
After the game, head coach Doc Rivers discussed the game plan for Joel Embiid and what he thought of his performance in his first game back after his bout with the flu.
“We literally told him, You know, when you’re tired, signal to come out. When you’re fresh, get up and come in. The only time I put him in was that last stretch because they were going to make a run, and we needed him on the floor. So I thought he was great. You can see early on I thought he got better as the game went on. But down the stretch, he was gassed.“
— Doc Rivers
With their Franchise not at full capacity, the Sixers saw their lead continue to grow slimmer and slimmer as the minutes went on. Despite losing their star point guard, Chris Paul, due to right heel soreness suffered in the second quarter, the Suns were carried by the efforts of their true star, Devin Booker, to within five entering the final quarter.
Booker would total 28 points in just three-quarters of work and looked to have what it would take to reclaim the lead and seal the victory for Phoenix. Come the fourth quarter, however, he would be contained — held scoreless, in fact — thanks to the defensive efforts of De’Anthony Melton, among other Sixers.
In the end, the Sixers would run through the fourth quarter with relative ease and would finish off the Suns by a score of 100-88.
Sixers’ Takeaways
In this effort, there were three players who stood out other than Embiid (and Melton defensively), two on a positive note and one not so. When it comes to feedback, the sandwich approach is often the best, when possible, that being feedback in a positive, negative, positive format. With that said, the first positive to be mentioned would be none other than one of the most often underrated Sixers of all, Tobias Harris.
Tobias Harris
In his twelfth season (shockingly already), Tobias Harris is having a career year with the Sixers after being asked once again to sacrifice and adjust his role. While his points per game average is below his career average, Harris has grown once again as a shooter knocking down 44.4% from deep — a more than solid uptick over his second-highest mark.
Against the Suns, Harris scored 21 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and netted 6 assists. Beyond that, he was comfortable in the scheme on both ends of the court. With constant questions surrounding Harris’ defensive ability and, frankly, his offensive ability alongside this Sixers’ roster, Tobias answered the call and, as he has in all their wins, heavily contributed to the victory.
Tyrese Maxey
While Harris’ impact was positive, to say the least, it was a rough night for rising star Tyrese Maxey who shot 4/18 from the field for just 11 points on the night. These nights, while not overly occurring, are not entirely unheard of as well.
One knock against Maxey — there are very few, to begin with — has been the inconsistent offense, disappearing even during some games. Last night is just one further example of this.
This isn’t to say that Maxey will never be a star or that he’s doomed to some sub-All-Star fate. It simply means that they recently turned 22-year-old is still growing in his NBA journey. Not only that, but he is doing so while having to adjust to lineup changes, as Tobias Harris pointed out postgame.
Georges Niang
Finally, there’s the minivan himself, Georges Niang, who tied a career-high with seven threes while totaling 21 points against the Phoenix Suns. After the game, Niang spoke on how often the Suns left him wide-open from deep.
“I mean, you gotta do something with Joel. So I guess, you know, not really. But after I made a couple, I was a little… yeah, I was a little surprised. I was getting that many clean looks, but their game plan was to slow down to Joel, so I had to make shots are probably won’t be out there.”
— Georges Niang
Phoenix made that mistake time and time again, and to his credit, Georges Niang took advantage. This is the fifth game this season that saw Niang reach double digits and the fourth in his past five outings (averaging 13.4 ppg in that time).
On the season, Niang boasts a slash line of 50/50/100, and while this is extremely unlikely to continue (due to the volume with which the Sixers require Niang to shoot), there is clear improvement in his 7th year. On the off chance that Niang is able to keep up this level of impressive shooting, he would join Tony Snell as the only members of the 50/50/100 club (min. 100 attempts).
