Ben Simmons scored a career-high, Joel Embiid recorded a double-double, and still, the highest praise was directed to an unlikely player after the Sixers' 107-86 win over the Jazz: Amir Johnson.
"He was the MVP of tonight," Embiid said.
Johnson embraced the ultimate role player mentality. He didn't know until shortly before the game if he was going to start in place of Embiid or come off the bench. Embiid, who had been dealing with left knee soreness, ended up playing. So Johnson waited for his name to be called and stepped right into action.
Johnson began the game with five rebounds in four first-quarter minutes. He finished with 13 boards, eight points and four blocks in 21 minutes. Johnson pulled down 10-plus rebounds for the 98th time in his career (see observations).
"I feel like my job is just to find ways I can help my teammates," Johnson said. "Knowing Joel, Ben and those guys are going to get the majority minutes, but when I come in I want to be effective at the same time."
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The 13-year veteran has been studying game film. Even though he didn't get on the court in either of the Sixers' matchups against the Warriors and played a combined 28 minutes in three road games in California, Johnson has been staying ready.
"It's huge for us," Simmons said of Johnson's defense. "Having a guy come off the bench and play a role like that. As a vet, he's one of the leaders. He comes in, plays hard, doesn't ask for more minutes or anything like that. He's a great player."
The Sixers signed Johnson to a one-year, $11 million contract this summer. He proved what he could do on the court since entering the league out of high school in 2005, but the even bigger draw was what he could add to the locker room. Brett Brown reached out to some of Johnson's former teammates and the assessments echoed one another. Now the Sixers are seeing what those who played with Johnson were talking about.
"It was amazing, to a man, how consistent the reviews were," Brown said. "People skills, work his butt off, could handle sitting and swinging a towel or coming in and making a difference. He's a good person and he's a pro.
"To be able to bring him in the game, and not worry about is he happy, is he fresh, is he in shape, does he need 10 shots isn't ever on my mind with Amir. He's a perfect teammate."
Redick bounces back in 2nd half
JJ Redick is at a point in his career where he isn't worried about a slow start. He went scoreless in the first half and still ended up with 20 points.
"Maybe five or six years ago I probably would have been a little more stressed at halftime," Redick said. "But I just knew there would be some opportunities and stayed patient."
Brown noticed Redick getting better looks after halftime. He evenly distributed his scoring with 10 points in both the third and the fourth quarters. He shot a perfect 4 for 4 from the field in the third.
"I'm always going to be aggressive. There just weren't opportunities to get shots off in the first half," Redick said. "I scored 20 in the second half, but didn't feel like I was forcing anything. The opportunities were there. Sometimes that happens within a game."
Simmons, too
Simmons showed the same kind of poise, even more notable because he is a rookie. Simmons shot 2 for 9 in the first half, shook off the early struggles, and scored a career-high 27 points. He scored half of the Sixers' 28 points in the third quarter off an efficient 7 for 9 shooting stretch.
"I thought I was going to have more, honestly," Simmons said.
Simmons took advantage of the Jazz missing center Rudy Gobert in the middle. He became the only Sixer since 1963-64 to score in double digits in each of his first 16 games. Simmons is averaging 18.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
