Philadelphia 76ers: 3 players who made the most out of the bubble

2. Alec Burks

Coming into the bubble, we weren’t sure if Alec Burks was part of the rotation. He was barely holding on to the 10th spot in a rotation Brett Brown promised to cut to nine. In the Houston game on Friday, Burks was Brown’s first player off the bench.

In eight games, no one saw a more astronomic increase in value than Burks. He went from a borderline waste of second-round picks to someone who will have a significant say in Philadelphia’s postseason success. If the Sixers topple Boston, Burks will play a large role in doing so.

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This ties back to what I said about Neto. The Sixers are better when guards are on the floor. I’ll call a spade a spade — Burks is not a point guard — but given the current limitations of Philadelphia’s roster, Burks’ ability to back up Shake Milton is essential.

Burks is the best perimeter shot creator on the roster. No one is better at creating something out of nothing — at going from standstill to points on the board — than Burks. He can side-step his way to 3s, he can attack the rim and finish with craft, or he can simply shoot over the top of his defender.

When the Sixers can’t generate offense through Embiid or Harris, it’s Burks who can step in and score a flurry of points. He’s the kind of sixth man scoring punch the Sixers have never had in the Embiid era. You could point to Marco Belinelli, but Burks is infinitely more valuable due to his ability to create off the dribble and, on occasion, create for others.

In the bubble, Burks averaged 14.6 points in 20.4 minutes. He shot 57.1 percent on 4.0 attempts per game from deep. As a cherry on top, he posted three consecutive games of 20+ points, tying a career-long streak. He’s the real deal.