The Philadelphia 76ers are in the process of going through a lot of different changes to their roster as the season gets set to resume in Orlando. On Sunday afternoon, they rolled out young Shake Milton to be their starting point guard for the second consecutive game and he played well in a 102-97 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Milton scored 11 points, knocked down three of his six triples, and he had four rebounds and two assists in 20:46 of playing time. The Thunder, led by veteran Chris Paul and young Shai Gilegeous-Alexander, pressured Milton all game and he did have three turnovers, but coach Brett Brown is glad that the Thunder did so in preparation for what’s to come.
“I think today was a great day in relation to how I think teams are going to play him,” Brown explained. “They’re going to jump him, they’re going to spin him, they’re going to crawl into him, they’re going to whack him when they can, and the physicality of today I thought equaled what you’d see from the Celtics or Toronto as an example and I think he’s coming around from that perspective dealing with the physicality of things and still getting us into things, I think well. He’s going to have to [in order] to be the starting point guard on a team that’s pretty good.”
The Thunder perimeter trio of Paul, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Lugentz Dort all stretched out deeper than usual to try and bother Milton and that is something that will happen more as the season really gets into the resumption. However, not a lot seems to rattle the second-year guard out of SMU.
“There’s a hell of a lot of responsibility in that role,” Brown said. “I don’t think he’s sped up in his mind for him not to be sped him in his game because of pressure is something I was impressed with. I do think there were times in the third period without some of our key people in the game that hurt us, but in general, I think Shake has handled that extended defense and overall physicality, the pressure, quite well.”
As Brown mentioned, Milton is going to have a lot on his shoulders as the season resumes and he will have to keep moving in the right direction. He now feels like he understands his role and that will be huge for him going forward.
“I think I’ve played well,” Milton said. “I think my role is going to be to come in and set everybody up, make sure everybody is in the right spots, get the offense going like we need it to go and knock down shots when I’m open. And then make plays. Pass the ball and find my teammates. Just hoop.”
The Sixers take on the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday to complete the scrimmage portion of their schedule. [lawrence-related id=35545,35523,35516]