The Philadelphia 76ers are a team that has one of the best starting units in the league led by Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris as well as a cast of really good shooters to space the floor for him. It is a unit that can get the team off to good starts which can be a big difference for them.
Then, there is the second unit. While they have some solid talent, there are plenty of times where they will come in and a big lead will slip away and coach Doc Rivers has to go back to the starters.
With Shake Milton returning to the team, the Sixers have received a bit of a boost. Milton has scored in double figures in both games he has played in off the bench and he has helped the bench unit get into their sets much quicker than a guy like Furkan Korkmaz can, as an example.
“Shake knows how to throw the lob, he knows how to make the right decisions, he’s been in that position before,” said big man Andre Drummond. “So just to have him back out there again to help us out to give Furk a little bit of a break to do what he does best which is be a scorer. It just opens the floor up for everybody.”
Milton is only shooting 33.3% from deep to begin the season, but it is only two games. He is a career 37.3% shooter from deep so he will most likely build himself back up to that number and lead the bench unit. The fact that he has scored in double figures so quickly is a big help for them.
“I love it,” said Georges Niang. “Shake has been out a couple weeks so it was great to have him out on the court. He does a great job of really controlling the pace of the game. He’s a walking bucket. The ball seems to leave his hand and find the bottom of the net so it’s always good to be out there with Shake on the floor.”
Milton is not a guy who will really light up the scoreboard every time, but he is a guy who can continue to come in and give the team a bit of a boost when they need it. His presence was a big help in their previous two wins.
“It’s good to have him back,” Drummond added. “We always make little jokes about the blue squad and the white squad and he was our final piece that’s missing so it’s good to have him back and see him on the court again being the guy that he is. He’s a great teammate, great player, and an excellent point guard.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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