The Philadelphia 76ers were in a tough spot again on Tuesday night. They were once again missing plenty of rotation pieces even though they did welcome Ben Simmons back to the fold and they needed help from a lot of guys still.
Joel Embiid did his part with 45 points and 16 rebounds as he was absolutely dominant all night long, but Danny Green played a big part as well in helping the Sixers escape the Miami Heat 137-134 in overtime.
Green knocked down a career-high nine triples and he had 29 points in the game. As dominant as Embiid was, they needed somebody else to step up and help and Green delivered in this one. This comes after he shot a dreadful 0-for-7 from deep on Monday.
“He just has ultimate confidence,” said Rivers. “First of all, he took 21 3-pointers. I don’t know if I’ve had 21 attempts in a game, let alone 3-point attempts, so the fact that he just kept throwing them up at the rim, I thought was good. I would say, 19 of them were great shots, you will take those shots. We did go on one stretch it was in the second quarter, where we were just running up and down the court taking quick shots and really didn’t go to the post at all. That was the only time I was really frustrated.”
The Sixers needed every single one of them in this one and it was important to their offense that he did so. The team is still missing Seth Curry and Tobias Harris as well as Shake Milton as they all go through the league’s health and safety protocols and Green is the one legitimate shooter right now on the roster.
“I always believe in Danny every time he shoots the ball,” said Dwight Howard who was a teammate of Green’s with the Los Angeles Lakers. “Look at his right arm when he shoots. He has a target on so every time I see that? I feel like it’s gonna go in and I have total confidence in him.”
While people get caught up in whether the shot goes in or not, there are other things on the floor that Green does that sometimes do go unnoticed. Howard wanted to make sure people don’t forget.
“He’s a great teammate, a great person, and then when he has those nights like that where people think he’s not shooting well or the shots are not falling, he’s still doing other great things on the floor,” Howard added. “Tonight, he did an awesome job of making shots, but then he made some big plays on the defensive end. He got some big blocks, he got some good steals, and stuff like that.”
On top of that, Green is a proven champion in this league. He has three rings for a reason and he has played a key role in all of his championship runs.
“One of the reasons why we won the game is because of the big play he made, two big plays he made late in the game,” Howard finished. “Danny is amazing and I’m super proud and happy for him. Mr three rings, that’s what we call him.”
The Sixers will face off with the Miami Heat again on Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center.
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