PHILADELPHIA–In order for the Philadelphia 76ers to continue to grow and become the team they expect to be, they need everybody to step up and help Joel Embiid and James Harden get the job done on the floor. They need the supporting cast to step in and play their roles on both ends of the floor.
In Tuesday’s 123-103 win over the Sacramento Kings, the Sixers received 15 points from Matisse Thybulle and he knocked down three triples while PJ Tucker added six points and he hit two 3s. If Philadelphia can get this type of production from their two top defenders, then it would, obviously, be a big help.
That is where Harden comes in.
“Those guys work their butts off on the defensive end,” said Harden. “They’re known as defenders. My job is to get them easy shots. Whether it’s PJ around the rim, or both, around the rim, and Matisse and PJ shots on the perimeter as well. I think my job, as much as they help me defensively, my job is to help them offensively, and put them in positions to where they got easy ones around the rim, or they got catch and shoot opportunities and they listen. I think that’s what this team is about.”
When it comes to Tucker, it’s just making sure he gets his opportunities in the corner. That is where he makes his living on the offensive end on the floor.
For Thybulle, as he continues to evolve as a shooter, this is still a work in progress with him as a cutter. He has to be able to move off the ball and find the open spots in the defense in order to be effective and he was able to do so on Tuesday. Harden is the one who is pointing him in the right direction and ensuring he gets easy looks.
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“Just that constant possession by possession communication,” The Beard added. “If I see something, I’m gonna tell him to do it, he does it, and he gets rewarded off of it. That right there’s like, we’re all human at the end of the day, so that right there for a guy who doesn’t get easy baskets offensively and he gets four or five of them, that boosts someone’s confidence to where defensively, he’s even better. As much as we can get that from each individual guy, the much better our team is gonna be.”
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Story originally appeared on Sixers Wire