Doc Rivers hints at Shake Milton getting back in Sixers’ rotation
The Philadelphia 76ers were in trouble in Game 2 on Tuesday night in the City of Brotherly Love. The starters were doing all of the heavy lifting in terms of scoring as the bench went scoreless in the first half and deep into the third quarter and they were searching for a spark.
Coach Doc Rivers inserted Shake Milton into the game with the Sixers trailing the Atlanta Hawks 80-79 with 2:46 left in the third quarter and he immediately made an impact. He scored the first bench points for Philadelphia at the 2:19 mark and he finished with 14 points on the night.
This was a big breakout game for Milton as he had been out of the rotation for a while due to his struggles against the Washington Wizards and the strong play of rookie Tyrese Maxey. With his big game, there is a chance that he gets another look at the rotation.
“Most likely,” said Rivers before Friday’s Game 3. “The way they’re playing us, I thought that, especially for Tyrese to kind of wait for him to drive, so we need more scoring on that second unit.”
Milton had been a reliable source of offense in the regular season, but he had some struggles down the stretch and he had a tough series with the Wizards. The playoffs are all about matchups and opportunities so it will be interesting to see if the young man out of SMU can take advantage of being called upon again.
“We’ve already kind of inserted Tobias (Harris) in the second unit in some ways, and we either will go with Shake or go with another one of the starters,” Rivers explained. “To have zero points at halftime, spoke loudly to all of us.”
The Sixers and the Hawks will tip off at 7:30 from State Farm Arena on Friday.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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