Sixers' athletic, chaotic bench trio trending up before playoffs originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Paul Reed caught some good-natured flack from Tyrese Maxey in the locker room and even chided himself on Twitter for missing a dunk in the fourth quarter Friday night.
While Reed might feel a bit better about himself after his next slam, that lowlight did not sour a stellar night for the 23-year-old big man and the Sixers’ bench in a home victory over the Raptors.
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“Paul Reed was phenomenal … James (Harden) is trusting him more in the roll,” Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said. “Jalen (McDaniels) again — just the energy and what he’s doing all over the floor. Danuel House was huge as well in that stretch. I thought the bench in the first half basically won the game in a lot of ways for us. That’s who stretched the lead.
“Joel (Embiid) had those two early fouls, and they came in and played terrific. Again, it’s a great example about rotations. We put Georges (Niang) in first and we didn’t like it, so we went with someone else. And that’s what this team is about. We’re flexible. And that, to me, is what makes this team so good.”
Rivers did not have great faith in many of his bench players last postseason. After Game 1 of the team’s second-round series against the Heat, he acknowledged the Sixers were “not as deep” as Miami. The Sixers' limited options meant Rivers needed to be flexible in his search for solutions and hope Furkan Korkmaz could hit a few timely jumpers against the Heat’s zone or Matisse Thybulle could recapture confidence and rhythm.
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With five games left before this year’s playoffs, Rivers called the Sixers’ rotation “always in flux."
He didn’t sound remotely concerned by that.
“If you just studied rotations, they start at 10 a lot of times in the playoffs, they go to nine, and by the Finals, they’re seven,” Rivers said with a laugh. “That’s just how it works. The deeper teams can go deeper, though. We hope we’re one of those teams that, first of all, can get to the Finals. And second, we’re hoping that when we get there, we’re still using eight to nine guys. That would be to our benefit if we can.”
Along with Harden, the Sixers received downright sensational first-half minutes Friday from House, McDaniels and Reed. Although there are nuances to each player’s game, much of their collective success stemmed from simply playing very hard and fast. Both creating and smoothly adapting to chaos is another broad strength for that trio. Reed blows an awkward attempt inside? He’ll grab his own miss and kick the ball out to a shooter. House has a defensive lapse and concedes a layup? He’s got an audacious dunk coming right up.
In addition to lauding House’s energy and athleticism, Rivers noted pregame that the veteran wing is “a way better passer than we thought off the dribble.”
“When he keeps it in that box — straight-line drives, running the floor, rebounding, making shots — he’s a benefit for us to have on the floor,” Rivers said.
House straying a bit from “that box" isn’t automatically negative. He’s able to effectively use his pump fake, spot open teammates while driving downhill, and make creative dishes. Reed also had a nice pass under pressure and McDaniels sensibly cut to the front of the rim during a bright second-quarter sequence.
The Harden-Reed pairing flourished Friday, too. Reed set high screens to alleviate ball pressure, stayed alert in the dunker spot on Harden isolations, and rolled with force and control. Lineups with Harden and Reed now have a minus-0.3 net rating this season, per Cleaning the Glass, which would presumably work just fine for the Sixers in the playoffs.
The fourth quarter did not go nearly as well for the Sixers’ bench. The team missed open shots aplenty and Toronto scored the period’s first 10 points.
Still, the Sixers’ energy level didn’t plummet and the 6-foot-9 McDaniels’ athleticism and defensive tools popped. He’s capable of blocking and altering shots as the low man defensively, which is a bonus in lineups that like to switch and scramble often.
“A good switchable group,” Rivers said. “Athletic group. Plays with great energy. And it gives, in some ways, James protection — because you’ve got defensive guys all over the floor. So it’s a good group for us.”
At least on Friday, it looked like a group that can live with a botched dunk or two.
