The Philadelphia 76ers entered Monday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers very shorthanded. They were down Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Tobias Harris, and then lost Danny Green in the third quarter, but they were able to come away with a 113-103 win at home despite the absences.
While Seth Curry led the team in scoring, they got some big performances from Georges Niang and Andre Drummond to come out on top.
Niang hopped off the bench and had 21 points, five rebounds, and five assists while Drummond had 14 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, and five steals while starting for Embiid. They were big games from Philadelphia’s two offseason pickups in free agency.
Niang, especially, was huge in the second half scoring 16 points after halftime.
“It’s funny, this summer, we had two pickups no one talked about and everyone who was around me I said ‘We have two really good pickups and nobody knows in Drumm and Georges’,” said coach Doc Rivers. “Georges is just a heady player, he is a 4, but he can play the 5. He brings the ball up a lot which I think helps our offense, it takes pressure off our guards, and then he’s just tough. He’s not scared to get in a fray, and I thought he did that tonight.”
Niang was able to recover nicely after a tough first half where he shot only 2-for-8 and 1-for-6 from deep. He shot 5-for-8 and 2-for-3 from deep in the second half.
“Obviously, sometimes shots aren’t going to go in, but you still gotta go out there and be aggressive so I definitely wanted to do that going into the second half,” Niang explained. “A couple of them fell and sometimes you get lucky and some of the shots fall.”
The Sixers fans in attendance even showered Niang with MVP chants while he was at the line.
“Joel told me to never let that happen again,” laughed Niang. “The fans here have been great and they’ve welcomed me with open arms so I’m super thankful.”
Then, there is Drummond who continues to play a big role for the Sixers. His energy out there on the floor is what really impressed Rivers in this one.
“His athleticism and speed,” said Rivers. “The one thing, and we’re still getting him to do it, when we rebound and he sprints in the picks, there’s no big that can run with him. That gives us a free pick and him a roll. That was the play he was wide open, but lost his step, I think he was actually going too fast, but if he can do that, it’s a factor. It creates such pressure on the other team when the 5 is outrunning their 5 and setting picks before they even set their D.”
Drummond wasn’t even sure what his role was going to be in this one after shootaround on Monday morning.
“He hit me with the okie-doke today,” Drummond laughed. “Usually, he will take a couple plays off at shootaround just to rest, so I didn’t know what was going on until I got here and I’ve seen the alert on Twitter, I said ‘Oh (expletive), I’m starting today’. So that’s how I found out. It was a great team win for us.”
The Sixers now move on to face the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday to wrap up the 4-game homestand.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[listicle id=52336]
[lawrence-related id=53195,53191,53184]