The Philadelphia 76ers were all out of sorts on Wednesday night against the Washington Wizards. They have a brand new roster, a new coach, and a brand new front office following a busy offseason, but they were able to squeak out a 113-107 win to start off on the right foot.
Joel Embiid may have led the way with 29 points and 14 rebounds, but they would not have won this game if it wasn’t for the work of Shake Milton. The third-year guard out of SMU hopped off the bench and poured in 19 points on 6-for-11 shooting and he was a real difference-maker for them.
On top of that, he also took on Washington’s top scorers in Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook as he did a terrific job of slowing them down a bit.
“He was great,” said Embiid. “Offensively and defensively. Offensively, he did his thing as a point guard and he made shots and he made plays. Then defensively, he took on the challenge of guarding the best players on the other team in Brad and Westbrook so I thought he was excellent tonight.”
In the fourth quarter, Beal shot 3-for-7 and the three shots he made were some tough ones. That is to be expected when one considers how elite of a scorer he is. Westbrook shot 3-for-5 and had a turnover as Milton did a terrific job against them both.
“He’s just getting better and better defensively especially,” said Ben Simmons. “He took that matchup and I think he did a great job considering the type of player Beal is, he’s gonna make shots. It’s just a matter of making it tougher on him and getting in the passing lanes and making sure he gets tough shots off.”
There is one thing that coach Doc Rivers told Milton and that was the fact that he had to defend to stay on the floor. Everybody knows that he can put the ball in the basket, but in order to earn extended time, he had to get after it defensively.
“One of the things we talked to him about right before the season started is listen we’re gonna lean on you offensively, but that doesn’t mean you get a pass on the other end,” Rivers added. “Tonight, he showed that he wasn’t taking a pass. I thought he was terrific.”
With the defense put aside, Milton was huge on the offensive end. With the team needing somebody who can create their own bucket he was the one who was putting the ball on the floor and he was getting to the basket. He got to the foul line four times in the fourth and combining his defensive effort with his big offensive night, it was a game he could be proud of.
“I’m just trying to be aggressive,” said Milton. “Be aggressive and make the right play, whether that’s shooting or passing and look to create for other guys. Whatever it takes.”
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