The Philadelphia 76ers have had to improvise for the backup big man spot to Joel Embiid. They normally would go to Andre Drummond, but with the veteran nursing a right ankle sprain, they turned to Georges Niang on Sunday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Niang had a solid night. He produced 12 points with three assists, and he knocked down three 3s. His versatility proved a big help in the team’s efforts to stretch the floor and put the ball on the floor.
Coach Doc Rivers is looking to expand Niang’s contribution and see what he can do as a small-ball center, so one might see more of this. However, he did not like using the experiment against the Thunder due to their defensive philosophy.
“I liked it,” said Rivers of the idea. “I didn’t like it against them because it’s the wrong team to do it against, honestly. Oklahoma switches everything so there really is no big advantage, but when you can get Georges on the floor with a 5 that doesn’t switch, it’s gonna pay big dividends. You can see that. Just against Oklahoma, they switched everything. Not as big impact offensively, but we still stretched the lead with it because he’s such a great shooter.”
Per Cleaning the Glass, Niang has played nine possessions as a center. The Sixers are projected to score only 77.8 points per 100 possessions in that type of configuration and give up 130 points per 100 possessions on the other end. Those are not numbers that would encourage more Niang small-ball 5 minutes.
On the flip side, it is only one game and it was only nine possessions. Also, Rivers is not worried about the defensive struggles when he is in there as the center. The Sixers have other ways to be able to figure it out on the defensive end.
“Yeah, stop the dribble,” Rivers said bluntly. “I wouldn’t overdo last game’s defense, let me just say there. I had to talk Dan (Burke) off a ledge. We didn’t have great defensive focus or intensity and that happens.”
The good thing is, Niang offers the option of going back to those lineups. Maybe not for too long, but in short spurts, he offers the long-range shooting and smarts to be able to make it work.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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