The days of having Shake Milton and De’Anthony Melton come off the bench as the Philadelphia 76ers’ backup backcourt tandem are back.
With James Harden healthy and back to one hundred percent and Tyrese Maxey quickly getting there, Doc Rivers has finally decided to have Melton come off the bench once again.
For the first five games of the season, Melton was a reserve. He picked up his first start against the Toronto Raptors on October 28. While Melton was in and out of the starting five from that point on, the November 18 matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks became the start of a long trend.
For 24 straight games, Melton started. With Tyrese Maxey sidelined due to a fractured foot, the Sixers needed the two-way standout to fill in alongside James Harden. At this point, Maxey’s back into the swing of things. And with Joel Embiid and PJ Tucker returning to the lineup, Maxey started over Melton on Tuesday night against the Detroit Pistons.
Following the game, Sixers’ reserve guard Shake Milton discussed coming off the bench with Melton once again, which is much easier this time around.
“It feels good, especially with our group it’s really easy because nobody has to have the ball, you know what I mean?” said Milton. “We can just kind of get the ball free-flowing, push it up the court, push the pace, and kind of play well off one another. So, it was cool.”
When Melton started for 24 games, Milton joined him in the lineup for nine games. At the time, the two thrived and built their chemistry further, which laid a solid foundation for the days they would start coming off the bench once again.
“I think it’s easy,” Milton explained when asked about playing with Melton after gaining experience together earlier in the year. “Anytime you’re playing with somebody who knows how to play the game of basketball, you know, shoot, dribble, pass, and defend at the same time, it makes it really easy to play. It makes my job a lot easier too. I don’t have to do everything on the court. I kind of just play free and find ways to help the team win. That’s something we’ve been building since training camp.”
So far this season, Milton and Melton have logged 383 minutes on the court together in 30 games, according to NBA.com. While they weren’t clicking as desired early on in the season, their time spent together in the starting five changed the narrative. Now, they have an opportunity to once again continue building chemistry in the backcourt when Harden and Maxey are off the floor.
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