The bizarreness of the Philadelphia 76ers finally hit a positive note this week.
This season for the Philadelphia 76ers has been nowhere near normal. But those who follow the Sixers have come to know, whether we like it or not, that normal means something different for this team.
The bizarreness has stemmed from the starting lineup experiment, Joel Embiid‘s up and down mood, Embiid scoring zero points in a game, Brett Brown publicly requesting Ben Simmons to get to the free throw line more and shoot one 3-pointer a game, Simmons basically ignoring it, as well as many others. The next one on that bizarre list is Shake Milton scoring a career-high 39 points against the Los Angeles Clippers.
That seems like a long list, but I left out so many minute things that just make you think, what is going with the Sixers?
From the team, to the coach, to the front office, to the fans in attendance and Sixers Twitter, there have been many weird happenings this season. The Sixers and everything surrounding them can either be extremely frustrating or extremely satisfying. There’s no happy medium with the 2019-20 Sixers.
Shake’s outbreak is a positive little story in this whirlwind of the season. Who would’ve thought Shake Milton would be the third Sixer to score 39 points in a game since 2000 — certainly not me, despite liking Shake’s potential as an NBA player. Who are the other two Sixers to accomplish this feat you may ask? Oh, only Sixers legends Allen “The Answer” Iverson and Joel “The Process” Embiid.
Milton’s explosive game against the Clippers was also an occurrence because it happened on the road. This may come as a surprise, but the Sixers are usually putrid on the road. A place where a role player like Milton would be stifled easier, one would think. Then you factor into his performance that Milton was dealing with three of the league’s top perimeter defenders in Patrick Beverley, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard.
The rise in production for Shake Milton was not expected, especially with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons both currently out nursing injuries. If I were a betting man, I’d put money down that he would not duplicate that performance.
Despite that, it’s nice to be on the positive side of bizarre events as a fan of the Philadelphia 76ers.