Getty Shake Milton of the Philadelphia 76ers walks off the court with head coach Brett Brown after an injury.
A nice surprise early in the season for the Philadelphia 76ers was the play of second-year guard Shake Milton, who played himself into some minutes with some solid performances.
While he only play a single minute in the team’s opener, Milton was able to collect 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting with 2 rebounds and 2 assists in just 12 minutes in the Sixers gritty 117-111 win against the Pistons without Joel Embiid. He was on pace for an even bigger night against Atlanta on Monday, but took a tumble to the hardwood in the third quarter that looked serious.
Luckily for the Sixers, it appears Milton has avoided any serious injury, being diagnosed with a bone bruise and a mild left knee sprain after he underwent testing Tuesday, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Milton will not play in the Sixers’ home game on Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He will be with the team as they embark on a West Coast road trip, which starts Saturday against the Portland Trailblazers and will conclude in Denver on Nov. 8. He will is slated to be reevaluated following the trip.
Shake Milton Draws Huge Praise from Brett Brown
GettyShake Milton in Summer League.
Milton was a late second-round pick out of SMU and averaged just over 13 minutes a year ago and notching 4.3 points per game.
Milton played some solid defense in the win against Detroit against Derrick Rose, which is no easy task, forcing the former MVP into some tough shots. With the Sixers as a whole bringing a renewed focus to the defensive side of the ball, Milton is a solid fit if he keeps it up.
“Defensive fundamentals, defensive pride, defensive knowledge,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said after the win over the Pistons. “The fact that if he doesn’t play defense, he’s got no shot at playing. You go to the offensive side and the game comes easy to him, he’s fluid.”
Brown, who spent more than a decade with the San Antonio Spurs before coming to Philly, said Milton reminds him of Danny Green.
“Danny Green did this during my Spurs life where he would sit there and sit there and sit there and then you put him in the game in the fourth period, third period and he would just come in and ‘bam, bam’ he could make a shot cold,” Brown went on to explain. “Shake does that quite often. He can just sit there, come in, and first open look, he’s making shots. So I think the game comes easy to him. He surely can shoot and I think that he’s improved his defense.”
Sixers, Timberwolves Battle in Matchup of Undefeated Squads
Getty76ers center Joel Embiid.
The Sixers will get their toughest test yet as they host Karl-Anthony Towns and the surprisingly undefeated Timberwolves.
The T-Wolves have notched close wins against the Heat and Nets, while blowing out the Hornets. Towns is averaging 32.0 points and 13.3 rebounds and it will be a battle as he matches up with Joel Embiid. Embiid has been dealing with a sprained ankle, but is anticipated to play.
Philadelphia has won the last five in a row against Minnesota, sweeping the pair of games in the last two seasons.
The Sixers are 7.5-point home favorites for the game, with an anticipated total of 222.5.
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