PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers welcomed a new addition to the roster in Monday’s 146-128 win over the Washington Wizards at home.
Nic Batum, acquired in the James Harden trade, made his debut for Philadelphia, and he scored 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting in 17:27 of playing time. He knocked down his first three triples and his ability to relocate and find open looks from the perimeter based on what was going on around him was impressive.
“Most of it was intuitive,” coach Nick Nurse said. “We did call one or two plays for him after he made a couple. I think maybe after his third one so most of it was just him, but he does things quickly. That’s one thing that stood out to me.”
Batum didn’t hesitate on any of his looks, which is important when playing next to Joel Embiid. The big fella needs floor spacers around him, and that’s what Batum provided on Monday.
“It’s great,” Embiid said of having Batum. “Any time you have quick trigger shooters, it just makes it easier. Especially, for me because every team wants to double and send two or three guys at me every single time.”
The Wizards sent a slew of defenders at Embiid every time he touched the ball, and he had to make the right decisions. That is where Batum comes in with his ability to shoot the ball.
“Any time you have guys like that that can get it up quick and actually make them, I think it’s great for us, and that forces the other team to make a decision,” Embiid added. “Do you wanna keep doubling? Or are you gonna allow those shots and we’ll take whatever is available.”
Joel Embiid on Nic Batum’s debut #Sixers pic.twitter.com/cxfjeQXJ6L
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) November 7, 2023
Batum has been in the league for 16 seasons. One does not have that long of a career without having the basketball IQ to succeed in any situation. He has built good habits, and they were on display on Monday.
“He does things quickly,” Nurse added of Batum. “He inbounds the ball quickly. He cuts quickly. He turns and gets his feet set quickly. He does things at a super quick rate, yet under control. That was good. He looked full of confidence. I like some of the things I see defensively, too. He’s a good communicator out there.”
While it was a good performance, Batum admitted he wasn’t sure what he was doing out there. He needs more time to learn what the Sixers want to run.
“It was fun. I had no idea what to do out there,” he laughed. “I had a quick 45 minutes yesterday (Sunday). It was a day off so I just come in and went through some plays with coaches for 45 minutes. I got a quick shootaround this morning. I watched the last two games. I just tried to go out there and play.”
The talent on the Sixers made life a bit easier for Batum to find his niche.
“When you play with guys like that,” Batum added. “Joel or Tyrese (Maxey) or Tobias (Harris), Kelly (Oubre Jr.), Pat Bev, guys who are very good at basketball, first, but with their IQ, it’s just easy to play the game. Just play around those guys and find the good spot and just easy.”
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