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Sixers Reserve Issues Strong Statement After Surprise Performance

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Getty Danuel House Jr. #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers fights for a loose ball against Darius Garland #10 of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the second half at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on November 30, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers defeated the 76ers 113-85.

It had been more than a month since Danuel House Jr. played meaningful minutes for the Philadelphia 76ers, but the veteran was ready when the team called his number on Wednesday.

With Joel Embiid out against the Miami Heat on March 1, Sixers coach Doc Rivers opted to shake up the lineup and had House come off the bench with the second unit. Though he hadn’t played more than garbage-time minutes since a January 21 game against the Sacramento Kings, House was ready and turned in a strong performance on both ends of the court.

After the 119-96 win, House spoke out about his surprise insertion into the rotation.

Danuel House: ‘I Just Heard My Name’

House ended Wednesday’s game with six points and two rebounds in 17:11 of playing time, helping the Sixers notch an important win against a team that had just beaten them two days prior.

House said he wasn’t given much warning that he would be taking on a more significant role, but said he was ready to go.

“I just heard my name,” House said, via USA Today’s Sixers Wire. “Just ran up there. We didn’t really talk about nothing. We just went over the breakdown and what we wanted to do as a team and that was pretty much it.”

Sixers head coach Doc Rivers explained that playing House was a strategic decision based on the lineup the Heat used in Monday’s win — which could be an indication that House will have a larger role should the teams meet in the playoffs.

“Just they’re small,” Rivers said. “I saw that in the last game. I had already made my mind up on that. I was like ‘They’re gonna play small ball.’ Really no one for Georges to guard and so that was the D-House part.”

House is averaging 4.4 points in 14.8 minutes per game this season, his lowest output since the 2018 season. Prior to Wednesday’s game, he had fallen to the back of the rotation and played in only two games during the month of February, appearing only in garbage time.

Joel Embiid Scratched Late

Embiid was a late addition to Wednesday’s injury report, sitting out the game due to left foot soreness, but the Sixers found a way to win without him. As the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gina Mizell noted, the Sixers are now 9-4 without Embiid this season.

“We just keep learning [how to play without Embiid],” Rivers said after the game. “Every night is a different night, because it’s a different opponent. We are a versatile, deep basketball team.”

The game kicked off an important stretch for the Sixers, who are playing six games in a span of eight days. In the win over the Heat, backup big man Paul Reed took on an important role, and said he felt he had something to prove after losing to the Heat.

“Honestly, coming into this game, I was taking it personal,” Reed said. “We lost to this team in the playoffs last year, and we lost to them the other night. So I really had a chip on my shoulder tonight and I really wanted to prove a point.

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Philadelphia 76ers reserve Danuel House Jr. spoke out about his strong performance against the Miami Heat on March 1.