The passionate fans in the city of Philadelphia have always made it known when they are frustrated with a certain team or a certain player. There will be loud praise when they are happy, and they are not afraid to boo when they believe they aren’t getting enough.
In Saturday’s win over the Denver Nuggets, PJ Tucker drew the ire of the fan base. He received some boos when he re-entered the game for Georges Niang. The veteran turned their boos into cheers by playing excellent defense on Nuggets star Nikola Jokic. Then he had, arguably, the most important bucket of the game when he sneaked into the paint and tipped in a miss to put Philadelphia up by four.
Afterward, Tucker posted to his Instagram about the boos he received.
PJ Tucker posted this on his Instagram story. He did receive some boos from the Wells Fargo Center crowd when he re-entered the game off the bench.
I get the frustration when looking at stats, but Tucker is way more than just numbers. He impacts winning in a huge way. #Sixers pic.twitter.com/F6lxP6r4rY
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) January 29, 2023
Here’s the thing with Tucker that can be hard to grasp at times. The veteran is only averaging 3.3 points and 4 rebounds, and he can be frustrating on the floor. Maybe the defense has taken a step back, but the veteran is proven. He has a championship on his resume. He wasn’t brought here for the regular season. He was brought here for the tougher matchups in the playoffs, and that is where his effect will be felt the most.
While the frustration from the fan base might be understandable at the moment, the situation figures to be much different for Tucker when the playoffs roll around in April and May. Saturday’s performance was a prime example of that.
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