In the Philadelphia 76ers' road win over the San Antonio Spurs, the bench lineup had a great performance. Joel Embiid and James Harden teamed up to lead the team as they usually do. But this time, the Sixers bench unit had a huge impact thanks in large part to Tyrese Maxey.
The Sixers bench scored 67 points, just three less than the starters, in the 137-125 victory. Maxey bounced back from some brutal outings to score a very efficient 25 points. Although the high-scoring effort was partly because the starters played fewer minutes against the rebuilding Spurs, the bench guys greatly impacted the game.
“That’s what I need from them,” Harden said to reporters after the Sixers win. “Consistently, they run those sets. What that unit is about is to get stops. If we get stops, we give ourselves a chance to get out in transition. They did a really good job tonight of handling business.”
The sets that Harden is referring to are likely pick-and-rolls with either Maxey or Shake Milton while Montrezl Harrell screens and Georges Niang relocates and/or cuts. The Sixers bench has plenty of variations of this set, which is used mainly to get the two guards into open space where they can shoot or pass. Against a Spurs defense that failed to slide over to help, it produced results often.
While Maxey did his thing, Milton added 14 points, Georges Niang scored 13 points and Montrezl Harrell posted six points. Those four and Matisse Thybulle had a net rating of +7.7 (per Cleaning the Glass) and are a good defensive unit with a few dangerous scoring options. With Embiid dominating and the bench having one of its best nights of the season, the Sixers won their eighth consecutive road game, which hasn't been seen since the days of prime Allen Iverson.
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