The Philadelphia 76ers are riddled with injuries right now and they had to battle against the big bad Los Angeles Lakers down two starters including shooting guard Josh Richardson who went down in their previous game.
In place of Richardson, coach Brett Brown did not call upon Furkan Korkmaz, he instead called upon Shake Milton who stepped up and delivered a solid overall performance. He had seven points and nine rebounds and he knocked down a triple as well as play solid positional defense in a stunning 108-91 win over Los Angeles.
What made Milton’s performance even more impressive is the fact that it was only his 14th game played of the season and it was his first career start. He looked poised despite admitting to having some butterflies before the game started.
“Very impressive,” said veteran Al Horford. “For him to get the call like that and just you’re starting, you’re playing, get ready, and he’s very poised. He works really hard and he’s one of those guys you see all the time working on different parts of his game and his conditioning so I’m just happy to be able to see him come out and have a good outing tonight.”
Milton played within himself. The stat line was not all that impressive, but he did a lot of things out on the floor that gave the team a spark. He wasn’t behind on any plays and he was right there running with the team.
“I thought he did great,” said Tobias Harris. “He didn’t try to do anything too out of the ordinary. It was a good compliment to the guys we had on the floor and for him too. He’s a kid who comes in and works every single day and now he’s getting presented with an opportunity and he did a great job with that. There’s a lot more he can do, too, that he’ll continue to build his confidence and go forward with that.”
Tobias Harris reacts to Shake Milton’s performance in his 1st career start tonight #Sixers pic.twitter.com/ztK086G4hc
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) January 26, 2020
That’s the key with Milton. He is not going to come in here and be Richardson to a T and be that dot connector that he was on both ends of the floor, but he can come in and he can provide a lot of hustle plays and provide some of the things that Richardson provided and help hold down the fort until he is ready to return.
Milton will get another chance on Tuesday when Philadelphia hosts the Golden State Warriors. [lawrence-related id=24254,24235,24216]