The Philadelphia 76ers were very busy in the shortened offseason as the league navigates through the global pandemic the world finds itself in. They went out and they made a couple of nice trades and they also made a savvy move in free agency.
That move was bringing in veteran Dwight Howard and he showed why the team signed him on Friday. Filling in for the ill Joel Embiid, he had 14 points on 7-for-7 shooting in the team’s 113-107 preseason win over the Indiana Pacers on the road.
There will be nights where Embiid will have to sit out and the Sixers will need to turn to the bench. In the past, that has been a bad thing as they have not been able to find a suitable backup. With Howard, that is not the case.
“Jo is the centerpiece of our team,” said Howard. “The main thing we want to do is always keep him healthy and keep him safe at all times. I know what my role is. I’ve been in a position that Jo’s in now. For me, it’s just really just complementing him in any way possible.”
The best way to do that is to give coach Doc Rivers somebody he can turn to when the All-Star big man does need a break on the floor. The Sixers have been in need of somebody to fill that position and it appears that they have found it.
“We’re going to have nights like that and we still have to win games on that night,” said Rivers. “That’s one of the things we’re trying to get across to our guys, not just because of Joel, because of this, COVID, and everything else this season. You have injuries, 72 games, we’re going to have to play short-handed a couple of nights for sure right. We’re going to have to try to win those games and I thought they did well.”
Howard started the game well by scoring eight points on 4-for-4 shooting and just being physical on both ends of the floor. It is that type of play that will certainly help the Sixers on the floor when Embiid needs a break and keep him fresh for later in the season.
“When he’s on the bench, just trying to raise the level of gameplay that’s on the court, so he can get his break and knowing that, while he’s in the game, he doesn’t have to force anything because he’s going to play minutes he’s going to do the shots,” Howard continued. “So my job is to make sure that when I’m on the court that I’m holding it down for him, and just going paving the way for him so he can just go out and be Jo. When he does that, he dominates the paint, dominates the floor, nobody in this league can stop him.” [lawrence-related id=40368,40362,40359]