The Philadelphia 76ers were down two big men on Monday when they took on the Cleveland Cavaliers in a preseason game. Joel Embiid did not travel with the team to Cleveland, and Montrezl Harrell is dealing with an intercostal strain.
Therefore, coach Doc Rivers experimented with his lineups, and he went small. De’Anthony Melton started and PJ Tucker slid to the center spot.
This is something Rivers has looked forward to trying in the final two preseason contests. After the 113-97 win over the Cavs, Rivers assessed Tucker’s play at center.
“It was good,” Rivers told reporters in Cleveland. “I mean, he struggled just knowing all the sets and stuff, but he’s just so smart, make plays, but, yeah, I liked it.”
Rivers clarified his comments that Tucker struggled understanding where to be on the floor in certain sets. Not that he struggled overall.
“Everything he did was great,” Rivers explained. “I didn’t think he struggled. I thought he struggled running sets. I thought he played great. Especially, making the play after the play. He just has so much energy and for a 5 to chase him around all night, by the end of the night, you’re exhausted because PJ doesn’t stand under the basket. He’s running corner to corner.”
Tucker scored six points on 2-for-6 shooting with the two makes coming from his favorite spot in the corner for 3s. His ability to knock down corner 3s as if they’re layups is a big help to this team because it helps space the floor for the offense to operate smoothly.
“I also thought his corner spacing, we kept putting him in the corner just to pull Jarrett (Allen) outside the paint,” added Rivers. “I thought that’s why we were getting to the basket and a couple of times they didn’t go, we made a couple of 3s. So I thought that worked out really well.”
Monday gave the Sixers a taste of how life will be without Embiid in the 2022-23 season. What Tucker lacks in size, he makes up for with aggressive play and 3-point shooting to help space the floor on offense. Philadelphia doesn’t have another 7-footer on the floor, but they have players who will be effective when the big fella can’t go.
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