NBA The substitute point guard made up for Embiid’s bad game
Lthe Sixers presented their candidacy as the best team in the East with a prestigious triumph against the Heat (125-108). The current NBA runners-up, very depleted without Adebayo, Butler or Bradley, they played with eight players and gave in to the Philadelphia substitute Shake Milton (31) that emerged from the bench to tip the balance.
The point guard was the surprise factor when signing 31 points (8/11 q2, 3/4 q3 and 6/6 qt) to which he added two rebounds and seven assists to lead the triumph of his team, which did not even accuse the grayest day of Joel Embiid (9 + 5 with 3/8 field goals).
Milton had the great collaboration of Ben Simmons, already freed from the rumors that linked him to the Rockets in a possible exchange for James Harden, demonstrated that its presence in Sixers It is necessary after signing a triple-double (10 + 10 + 12), the thirtieth of his career. “Much worse things are happening in the world,” Simmons said of the rumors putting him on the Rockets. “If you tell me never to play again, that will be a different story.”
“This is a business. Things like that happen,” he said. Simmons. “The only thing I can control is how I approach my training sessions, the games and my day-to-day things. I just try to be professional, do the right thing and help my team get victories,” he said. “While he’s here, trying to make Ben a better player,” said his coach, Doc Rivers. “And for me, that’s the most important part of our relationship.”
Beside Milton and Simmons, in the Sixers they performed at a good level Tobas Harris (18 + 4 + 2) and Tyrese Maxey (fifteen). The whole of Philadelphia showed that it does not depend solely and exclusively on what its great star can do, Joel Embiid, and perhaps that is the best news for them and that confirms that they are one of the great favorites of the Eastern Conference, in which he marches in second position (9-4).
Face the Heat they had their best players in Duncan Robinson (22), Gabe Vincent (21 + 2 + 8) and Tyler Herro (17 + 6 + 3), but the losses of key players in their team suffered too much. Jimmy Butler , Bam Adebayo, Goran Dragic y Avery Bradley they were left out because of the anticovid health and safety protocol. And to add insult to injury they also lost during the match Meyers Leonard, who injured his left shoulder.
So in the end Erik Spolestra He could only count on eight players, something his team accused, although he did not want to apologize for that: “I don’t want to hear about fatigue”said the Heat coach. “Philadelphia just beat us.”
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