Philadelphia 76ers Player of the Week: Jimmy Butler carries the load

The Philadelphia 76ers needed Jimmy Butler to carry the offensive load for the week with Joel Embiid struggling and the star wing delivered.

It was the first time this season that star Joel Embiid wasn’t absolutely dominant throughout a week, to be quite honest he struggled mightily. Regardless if it was because of fatigue or struggling to adjust to playing next to Jimmy Butler, it’s was clear the Philadelphia 76ers need to find a large portion of their offense elsewhere. Butler was just that for the Sixers and has earned his first player of the week award.

While he wasn’t even 76ers high scorer of the game, that goes to J.J. Redick, Butler was still essential to Philly’s win against the Memphis Grizzlies. The All-Star finished the game with 21 points, three rebounds, two assists, one block, three turnovers and three fouls, while making 7-17 field goal attempts, none of his four 3-pointers and 7-8 free throw shots. This was by far his worst performance of the week and he did pick up his play in the following games.

More from The Sixer Sense

The Sixers may have lost to the Toronto Raptors, but it wasn’t due to the lack of effort by Butler. He had 38 points, 10 rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block, two turnovers and two fouls, while converting 15-27 shots from the floor, 4-7 shots from downtown and all four of his foul shots.

In the win against the Detroit Pistons, when Embiid didn’t play due to rest, Butler continued his eruption of scoring. He ended the contest with 38 points, six rebounds, six assists, three steals, one block and one foul, while shooting 13-27 from the field, 1-6 from the arc and 11-12 from the charity stripe. While Butler’s scoring was important to this victory, it was the team’s defense down the stretch that sealed the deal for the 76ers.

Honorable Mention

Ben Simmons or Redick could have earned the honorable mention based on their production, however this week it goes to Mike Muscala. When Embiid was out against the Pistons, Muscala had 18 points, three rebounds and three blocks, while shooting 4-9 from downtown. He had several key defensive plays against Detroit near the end of the game that helped maintain the lead. For the week, he averaged 10.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.3 steals, 1.3 blocks, 0.7 turnovers and 2.3 fouls.

Next. How come the Sixers want to get rid of Korkmaz?. dark

With Embiid struggling, it was clear that the Philadelphia 76ers needed Butler to step up. Which he did with averaging 32.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.0 block, 1.7 turnovers and 2.0 fouls. Hopefully Embiid be able to bounce back after a bad week, so that Sixers won’t need to rely on Butler as much in order to win.