Sixers praise Ricky Council IV for contributions in wild win over Spurs
The Philadelphia 76ers were searching for answers. They needed somebody to give them a spark and help them pick up a critical win against the San Antonio Spurs while missing Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, Kyle Lowry, and others.
Coach Nick Nurse turned to rookie Ricky Council IV who played the entire fourth quarter and the entirety of both overtimes in a 133-126 double-overtime win over the San Antonio Spurs. He turned in 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting, hit three big free throws, and had four steals. He was absolutely terrific in a tough situation for Philadelphia.
“I would say he was really good at the defensive end, right?” Nurse told reporters following the win. “He really was like, disrupting rhythm, picking up full court, like he was really moving his feet, keeping his guy in front, like, making the start of their offenses take a long time and that ends up—it usually ends up helping so that first and foremost, he was great there.”
Council IV had not received legitimate minutes in quite some time. He still is a rookie on a two-way deal so the Sixers have been wanting to make sure he gets the court time he needs in the G League to develop.
His play in the fourth quarter and the two overtimes against the Spurs was impressive and Philadelphia needed all of it.
“Ricky’s kinda like, if he gets some space, he’s gonna go downhill too,” Nurse added. “He mad a layup, he got fouled, and incredible pass out to Nico (Batum). The left-hand wrap around that was really the dagger play a little bit so he was good. He plays hard. He plays hard.”
Minutes and production like this are going to be so meaningful and helpful for Council IV going forward. The Sixers turned to their rookie and he responded with a terrific performance.
“It’s good,” Council IV told reporters. “I mean, I got a tap on the shoulder at the beginning of the fourth quarter telling me we need energy and they’re looking for energy so be ready. Coach came down with the board. My name was on the floor. So that type of confidence—they know I have that type of energy to impact the game was big so I had to go out there and do it and we came up with the win.”
The Sixers have three games left. All at home and will look to move up in the Eastern Conference standings.
