Saturday was not the first time the Philadelphia 76ers have been short-handed in a game in the 2022-23 season.
They were missing Joel Embiid and James Harden on the road on Saturday as they took on a very good Sacramento Kings team and they didn’t blink. They’ve been through this before earlier in the season and they were able to dig deep.
Despite trailing by 21, the Sixers were able to rally behind Tyrese Maxey’s 32 points and big contributions from others. Montrezl Harrell stepped into the starting lineup and poured in 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting, Georges Niang had 17 off the bench, Shake Milton added 15 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, and the Sixers ended up winning the game.
“I think guys know what’s expected of them when guys are down at this point,” Niang told reporters. “We played a month without Tyrese, we played some time without James and Joel early in the year. I think guys are starting to realize where they kind of fit in and what they can do.”
The Sixers were able to come away with the win because they got contributions from everybody. It was a night where others knew they had to step up and help the team in order to get this one done. Harrell, especially, was terrific in his role on Saturday in order for Philadelphia to get this one done.
“Look at Trez, 7-of-8, with seven rebounds,” Niang added. “He’s capable of stepping in and being a starter and playing starter minutes and guarding (Domantas) Sabonis all night and that was huge for us.”
The Sixers completed a very impressive 5-0 road trip and they will now return home to take on the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.
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Story originally appeared on Sixers Wire