Getty Georges Niang #20 of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Remember when the Philadelphia 76ers revamped their bench unit this summer after a lackluster 2021-22? The team added De’Anthony Melton, Danuel House, and Montrezl Harrell to a rotation that included Matisse Thybulle, Georges Niang, and Shake Milton.
So far this season, fans haven’t necessarily gotten to see those bench additions in full force. House has been awful on both ends of the floor, with the “sharpshooter” shooting 20% from deep this season. Harrell has been similarly poor, while Melton’s defense is salvaging his meager 8.3 points per game, his lowest tally since 2019. If the Sixers are going anywhere this season, it’ll need its bench to chip in in a meaningful way.
Fortunately against the Bulls on Saturday night, one of the Sixers’ bench players stepped up. Georges Niang finished the game with 15 points across 17 minutes of action, the most of his season so far.
.@sixers @GeorgesNiang20 has 15 points on 6-8 shooting in 17 minutes tonight.
Prior to joining the 76ers last season, Niang had 10 career games with at least 15 points. He now has 11 over the last two seasons with Philadelphia.
h/t @Stathead
While Niang had a strong performance, it was Embiid’s late-game heroics that saved the day for Philadelphia.
Joel Embiid Sinks Clutch Three-Pointer for 76ers
With the game winding down in the fourth quarter, Joel Embiid found himself in a familiar position: he had the ball in his hands after a pass from James Harden. What wasn’t so usual was the fact that Embiid caught the pass at the top of the arc with the shot clock winding down. Usually, Embiid might have been fed the ball in the paint to get up a quick layup to avoid a shot clock violation. But not here.
Embiid pulled up and heard nothing but net. The three-pointer put the Sixers up 112-109, effectively ending the game (though PJ Tucker did his best to throw the game away with a late turnover to a wide-open Alex Caruso).
Embiid finished with 25 points against the Bulls Saturday night. All eyes were on the big man to see how he’d respond after missing the Sixers’ game the night before with an injury. But the former Kansas Jayhawk fared well, going 9-16 from the field with seven rebounds. Sure, he looked sluggish at times, still slogging his way back down the court after a missed shot and offensive rebound.
But the clutch three wasn’t the only time Embiid came up big against the Bulls.
Embiid Meets DeRozan at the Rim and Wins
With seconds ticking down, Embiid met Bulls star DeMar DeRozan at the rim. DeRozan was driving fast, looking for a quick answer to Embiid’s three. As DeRozan went up, though, the long, strong arms of Embiid were waiting.
DeRozan never stood a chance.
Embiid comes through: for the lead, then at the rim. Sixers win.
It was a nice defensive play from Embiid after his lackluster defensive start this season. Embiid’s defensive woes were noted recently by Rohan Nadkarani of si.com.
“The Sixers are hemorrhaging points. The starting lineup is passable, and after that it gets bleak. Philly’s second-most used unit, which includes Embiid, has a 139.7 defensive rating.
…
“Again, not to single out Embiid, but he’s the heart of Philly’s defense. The Sixers currently have a 116.4 defensive rating with him on the court, which would be by far the worst mark of his career.”
While it’s been far from smooth sailing on the defensive end from Embiid, perhaps we should simply call it a work in progress as this new team continues to get in sync with one another. Plus, the Boston Celtics took half a season to get its defense in order before ultimately making a run to the Finals.