The Philadelphia 76ers are seeking consistent ways to win while Joel Embiid remains sidelined. They picked up an impressive win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday thanks to the play of everybody up and down the roster.
While Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. will get the praise for the points they pumped in to keep the scoreboard moving, praise should also be given to Nic Batum.
The Sixers have asked Batum to play different roles since he returned from his hamstring injury. He has started, come off the bench, played some small-ball 5 and been used as only an inbounder at times. It’s all in an effort to help the team win.
He had seven points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and three steals in the win over the Mavericks while playing some small-ball 5. He was terrific on the defensive end and helped on the glass.
“Well, he is a unique player,” coach Nick Nurse told reporters about Batum. “Not only did he grab some rebounds, but he ran a bunch of those long bounce out to the corner ones down. He was the one running out there to get those.”
Batum was also helping Maxey beat the blitzing defense the Mavs employed. He flashed to the middle of the floor, grabbed the pass from Maxey out of the double teams and made the right decisions to help Philadelphia execute.
“Then there was a segment of the game where they were blitzing Tyrese and he got the ball in the middle and he hit Paul (Reed) for a dunk,” Nurse added. “He hit Kelly for 3. A few plays in a row, he got the ball in the middle and we scored on all of them. So good passer, smart player. It’s good to see him on the glass, too.”
Batum is going to play an important role for the Sixers as they move forward.
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