Sixers’ Shake Milton made the most of his first career start
Starting in place of injured Josh Richardson, Milton had seven points and a career-high nine rebounds in 25 minutes.
Sixers guard Shake Milton got hints on Friday that his first NBA start would be the next evening.
No big deal, just a prime-time game on ABC with the Los Angeles Lakers, the best team in the Western Conference and one with serious championship aspirations after a six-year hiatus from the postseason.
Milton was candid when asked after the Sixers’ 108-91 win over the Lakers on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center if he had some butterflies entering the game.
“Yes, prime-time game," he said, “but once the ball is tipped, you get up and down the floor one time, you are good.”
Good was an appropriate word to describe his performance.
The 6-foot-5, second-year guard from SMU played 25 minutes and scored 7 points on 3-for-5 shooting, and had a career-high 9 rebounds as well as 3 assists, 1 steal and just 1 turnover.
Milton is averaging 10.6 minutes in the 14 games he has played. The chance for more minutes came last Wednesday when starting shooting guard Josh Richardson suffered a hamstring strain in the first quarter of the Sixers’ 107-95 loss in Toronto. The Sixers said the next day that Richardson would be re-evaluated in about two weeks.
In addition to missing Richardson, the Sixers played a ninth straight game without star center Joel Embiid, sidelined by a torn finger ligament.
Milton who did not play at all in the five games prior to facing Toronto, played 22:31 against the Raptors. In that game Milton had nine points. He shot 3-for-10 overall, but 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.
Milton said it helped him to get so many minutes against Toronto.
“It helped me catch a little bit of a rhythm,” he said. “I haven’t been part of the rotation for a while, so to be out there and kind of get thrown into the fire, my teammates did a good job of encouraging me and telling me to be aggressive and be ready to play, and it wasn’t that hard.”
What has been hard has been not being a consistent member of the rotation. Milton had played more than 12 minutes in both the second and third games of the season, but he suffered a bone bruise and mild sprain of his left knee in the third game, a 105-103 win over Atlanta.
Milton was sidelined for six games and when he returned he saw periodic playing time but nothing consistent over a sustained number of games. He even spent six games playing for the Sixers’ G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.
“It’s definitely hard,” he said about the time he wasn’t in the rotation. “Everybody wants to play. You got to take it as an opportunity to lock in and make sure you’re on top of your stuff so you make sure when your number is called you are ready to perform.”
Now with Richardson out, Milton suddenly could have a valuable role, especially if Saturday is an indication.
“There is sort of a poise, an inner peace, he plays at a non-rattled level," coach Brett Brown said about Milton. “He really to me doesn’t get rattled, shaken up.”
Al Horford, who had nine of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, also lauded Milton.
“You see him all the time working on all parts of his game, his conditioning and staying ready,” Horford said. “I am happy to be able to see him come out and have a good outing.”
Milton had a natural reaction when asked how it felt to get his first start and enjoy good results. He had a plus-12 rating, third-best on the Sixers behind Ben Simmons (plus-15) and Matisse Thybulle (plus-13).
“It felt good," Milton said. “It’s tough to have injuries ... but we always preach next man up, and I stepped up and did my part.”