Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
The Sixers have once again been hit hard by COVID-19, as guards Tyler Johnson and Myles Powell as well as head coach Doc Rivers entered the league’s health and safety protocols. Tonight in Brooklyn, we witnessed the first game of the Dan Burke Era. Let’s get to the Pros and Cons.
Pro: Shake Milton, Andre Drummond return from COVID-19 health and safety protocols
With the exception of Danny Green -- who has also spent the last several games in the health and safety protocols -- the Sixers’ regular rotation members are now fully healthy.
In a league where most teams have seen their rosters become heavily-depleted, the Sixers now find themselves in an unusually advantageous position. Merely having a near-complete rotation gives them a massive leg up.
As for Milton and Drummond specifically, Milton struggled in his return and clearly looked rusty. Drummond, however, gave the Sixers a boost off the bench — particularly in the first half — contributing around the rim, on the glass and on the defensive end.
During Milton’s absence, it became clear that the team needs his secondary playmaking. And while Paul Reed and Charles Bassey are interesting prospects, Drummond is a massive upgrade at the backup center position compared to what the Sixers have gotten there of late.
Con: Johnson, Powell, Rivers enter COVID-19 health and safety protocols
After carving out a reasonably-relevant role in the Sixers rotation early on, Johnson tested positive for COVID-19, which will keep him unavailable for the rest of his 10-day contract (Johnson and the Sixers may agree to one more 10-day deal when Johnson exits the protocols).
With Milton back in the fold, however, I’m not sure exactly how Johnson can maintain playing time to begin with. Between Milton, Furkan Korkmaz, Seth Curry and Tyrese Maxey, the Sixers now have enough competent ball-handling available.
Rivers and assistant coach Sam Cassell both entered the health and safety protocols, and with Dave Joerger away from the team as he undergoes treatment for cancer, it is Burke, an acclaimed defensive guru, who is in charge for now. It’s never easy to glean how valuable various assistant coaches are, but it sounds like the Sixers are in good hands with Burke.
Pro: Sixers late-game offense shines in impressive win
We’re all so conditioned to believe that the Sixers will choke away games at the end of the fourth quarter, that it just seemed obvious that the Sixers would end up losing in a heart-breaker tonight.
Enter Embiid, Maxey and Curry. The Sixers’ three best offensive players came up huge, hitting big shot after big shot. Embiid was dominant all night long, keeping the Sixers in it, and Maxey (career-high five three-pointers made) and Curry (17 points) helped him bring it home in what was one of the most impressive wins of the year.