With the Philadelphia 76ers needing to stop their profuse bleeding, both literally and figuratively, they first needed to snap their first-game losing streak. The jury is starting to become doubtful of their actual chances of even making the playoffs, and the tension around the franchise is starting to get high.
And for some sigh of relief, the 76ers did just that last night, snapping an irking five-game skid at home against the Brooklyn Nets. Despite not having Joel Embiid, who was a late scratch due to injury, the squad turned in a great performance on both ends of the floor to notch their first win in 10 long days.
Jared McCain, who logged 30 points, and Tyrese Maxey, who registered 26 markers despite a minutes restriction, led the team in scoring, but beyond that, the 76ers got solid outings from nearly everyone. One thing that we cannot simply gloss over, however, is Nick Nurse finally making a critical lineup change that should be massive in light of Embiid’s short-term absence.
Nick Nurse finally makes critical lineup change for the 76ers
With Embiid sidelined, Nurse turned to Guerschon Yabusele to man the starting center spot — a big departure from his default move of starting veteran Andre Drummond. This switch-up immediately paid off, and should give the 76ers a better shot at mounting better starts for the meantime without their superstar.
Yabusele actually did not shoot the ball as he well as he has so far this season, but his impact was pretty on-fleek right from the get-go. His presence allowed the 76ers to generate even more spacing offensively, which contributed to McCain and Maxey shredding the Nets defense.
A 42.4 percent three-point shooter as of writing, Yabusele has already shown that he can function as a reliable floor-spacer. Having him start games allows the 76ers’ dynamic backcourt to get into groove much faster than when Drummond is manning the spot.
Yabusele’s quick decision-making was also a breath of fresh air in contrast to Drummond’s very limited skill therein. The scoring attack just seemed so much more deliberate with the Frenchman leveraging his mobility to attack closeouts and chase space.
Moving Drummond as a consequence should also help abate his poor play so far. He’s clearly much better off showing off his skill set against bench units at this point in his career. Hopefully, that continues.
Nick Nurse finally made a much-needed lineup quirk to smoothen the edges in the absence of two All-Stars. Hopefully, this could be the kickstart to success to an otherwise horrible start for the Philadelphia 76ers, at least for now with Joel Embiid ailing.