Marcus Morris Sr., Sixers praise Patrick Beverley after win over Rockets
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers were able to pick up a 124-115 matinee win over the Houston Rockets on Monday mainly due to Joel Embiid. The big fella had 41 points and 10 rebounds in his return from a knee issue.
However, the bench unit gave the Sixers a big lift.
Patrick Beverly had 11 points, six assists, and five rebounds, Marcus Morris Sr. had eight points and five boards, Paul Reed had seven and four rebounds, and Danuel House Jr. added six points and five boards.
Beverley, specifically, did a terrific job in the third quarter to stabilize the Sixers a bit when the Rockets looked like they were going to threaten to take the lead. That is where the veteran presence of Beverley plays a huge part for Philadelphia.
“That’s who he is,” said Morris. “He’s a veteran, always under control, efficient, and knows who the ball needs to go to.”
To Morris’s point, Beverley plays under a lot of control, but he brings a lot of energy and that passion he plays with is a big plus for the Sixers.
“I just think he plays the game–he loves and plays with so much passion that I just think that if that’s kind of in your heart all the time that good things are gonna happen to you as a player personally,” added coach Nick Nurse. “It certainly happened for him tonight and it was a big effect for our team as well.”
Overall, the bench unit played well and Nurse wanted to give them a big shoutout for their play. Especially, for what they did in the first half to help the Sixers create separation from the Rockets.
“Great job in the first half the way those guys—they really did a great job,” Nurse added. “I thought they started jarring the ball loose. I thought they were really, again, ball movement. I thought they were in, out, over with some passes, creating shots for each other. Yeah really, really great stint by kind of the start of the second quarter, too. Tobias (Harris), House had a really good—I thought House had one of his best stints for a while. Pat Bev got another good game.”
