The Philadelphia 76ers escaped Salt Lake City on Saturday night with a 118-117 win over the Utah Jazz to begin a five-game road trip. They did so because James Harden and Joel Embiid did what they do best.
Harden scored 18 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter, and he also had 11 assists and six rebounds. Embiid had 30 points and seven rebounds while also knocking down the game-winning jumper with 4.9 ticks left.
However, the Sixers received a huge lift from reserve Shake Milton, who scored 17 points, including three 3s, on 7-for-12 shooting.
“Confident,” Harden told reporters of Milton. “Just confident. Shake played well. He made shots, was solid, made a big layup, made a big 3, made some big-time plays. That’s what we’re gonna need from every guy that checks into that game. Just be ready and make some big-time plays. Shake was the guy tonight (Sunday).”
The Sixers suffered another injury issue in the second half when Tyrese Maxey went down with an apparent injury. Coach Doc Rivers turned to Milton and the veteran out of SMU stepped up.
“I think it’s just been next man up mentality,” Milton added. “I think that’s just been something we’ve had on this team this entire year and we have a really deep team. I don’t think any one of these guys feel like it’s anything for him to step into a certain position or a certain role and execute whenever the team needs. Tonight (Sunday), we did that.”
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