The Philadelphia 76ers needed some type of spark on the offensive end of the floor. The starting unit had a little bit of a struggle out on the floor and the Golden State Warriors began to get into a rhythm led by Steph Curry and Jordan Poole.
After the Warriors build a 13-point lead, it looked as if the Sixers were done. There was no shot they would be able to win this game against a powerful Warriors team.
However, coach Doc Rivers turned to Andre Drummond and the bench unit and they gave the team a huge spark. Philadelphia was able to rally and knock off the Warriors 102-93 at home. The Sixers outscored the Warriors 32-20 in the fourth quarter due to a huge effort by the bench.
“The bench, when did they come in, down 12? I think?” said Rivers. “That was great. The bench’s energy offensively. I thought defensively, we were good the entire night. I think we messed up one switch the entire night. That’s hard to do with all the stuff that they run, but then we got sluggish offensively and give credit to Golden State, they’re a great defensive team. They put pressure on us, took us out of our stuff, and I think that second unit got us moving again.”
Drummond finished with nine points and nine rebounds on the night, but his energy and his hustles were infectious in the second half. He had five and five after halftime.
“Just energy,” Drummond said. “Just do what I do best. Just go out there and play hard and cause havoc.”
Joel Embiid led Philadelphia with 26 points and nine rebounds in the win, but he acknowledged that it was Drummond and the bench unit who saved the day when the team really needed it. Along with Drummond, they received 10 points and four rebounds from Shake Milton.
“The bench,” Embiid started. “They did such a great job. They came in with a purpose. That was great to see especially because the starters, for the most part, we didn’t have any rhythm, but they came out, got stops defensively and offensively, they just moved the ball well and they made shots.”
The Sixers will take this impressive win, but now they have to head back on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday and try and get another win.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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