Doc Rivers, Danny Green praise Shake Milton for effort in Sixers win
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The Philadelphia 76ers entered Saturday night missing three starters in Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Seth Curry. They needed other players to step up in their absence and get the job done.
While Tobias Harris was the one who led the way by stuffing the stat sheet, the Sixers also received a big game out of Shake Milton. He got the start in place of the injured Simmons and he did not disappoint.
He started slow with 12 points on just 3-for-10 shooting, but he shot 6-for-7 in the second half and he finished with 28 points on the night in a 129-105 win over the Sacramento Kings.
“I thought he struggled a little bit in the first half, then in the second half, he got good rhythm,” said coach Doc Rivers. “We need him, we need everybody right now with all these guys being out. When you think about no Ben, no Joel, and no Seth, and we score 129 points, that says a lot about this group.”
The good thing about a guy like Milton is that he will not stop shooting just because he got off to a slow start. He’s going to be one of those guys who will keep attacking and do what is necessary for the offense.
“Shake no matter if he’s 10-for-10 or if he’s 0-for-9, he’s going to give us what he does,” said veteran Danny Green. “He’s going to attack, he’s going to be on the aggressive end of things, and play his game. He’s always been great for us scoring off the bench, this has been one of the few times he got a chance to start and be able to do it for us.”
Milton got off to such a slow start that there was a moment in the first half when Rivers was calling on rookie Tyrese Maxey to enter the game for him. Milton then got an And-1 bucket and he knocked down a triple. Philadelphia then left him in the game and it paid off.
“He was struggling and a ball finally went in for him,” Rivers explained. “We thought let’s see if we can get another one to go in.”
The Sixers need Milton’s play right now being so shorthanded. He is one of those guys who can get to the basket and finish and he also has the size to be able to rise up over defenders and knock down shots. His chemistry with somebody like Dwight Howard is also important to the offense at the moment.
“He’s going to be aggressive whether he starts off slow or not,” Green added. “He gives us that pick-and-roll dynamic where he can get downhill and get a bucket off the pick-and-roll or find guys and get a lob to Dwight. Tonight, he was great. He was taking his time, understanding the pace, choosing his moments, letting the game come to him. Tonight, he was aggressive and we’re going to need that.”
Philadelphia will now kick off a 6-game road trip on Sunday against the New York Knicks.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
