For the Philadelphia 76ers, the injury bug is hitting them hard. They were already down their top two guys in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, but now they are down another starter as Josh Richardson is now out with a concussion he suffered on Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
It comes at the worst time for them as they continue to try and get home-court advantage in the playoffs, but it does allow them to see their young players blossom a bit. The team has continued to have a “next man up” mentality and the players have responded.
The biggest surprise has been Shake Milton who was not even supposed to be in the rotation at the All-Star break. The team was going to focus on Alec Burks and Richardson behind Simmons, but the injuries have changed things for them.
“Obviously with three starters down right now, people are going to have different opportunities to showcase what they can do and step up,” said Tobias Harris. “We need everybody to really contribute.”
Milton did so in a big way on Sunday going for a career-high 39 points while also making NBA history in the process. On top of that, he did that on the road against a very good title-contending Clippers team on national television. It was all in all, a very impressive performance.
“I think Shake did a great job of just coming in and finding his rhythm and finding his confidence all throughout the game,” Harris added. “You’ve seen it in previous games and different opportunities, but to kind of put it on a really good team was really key for confidence, I believe.”
The biggest thing for Milton and, really the rest of the team, will be to continue to fight. If they play with the same kind of energy and urgency as they did on Sunday, then more often than not, they will come out on top. Maybe not against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, but that effort can hold down the fort until they can get healthy again. [lawrence-related id=26962,26954,26945]