Back from hip injury, the Sixers’ Danny Green has the confidence to let it fly from deep

A question about Danny Green’s timely shot-making during Saturday’s 76ers’ victory against Sacramento led to a playful exchange between the veteran wing and superstar Joel Embiid.

“I do it because Jo tells me to do it,” Green said.

“I tell them all to frickin’ let it fly every time I pass the ball,” Embiid interjected.

“He does not like when we pass up shots when he finds us open for an assist,” Green continued. “If you pass up his assist, you might not get it back again. Nah, but he makes great plays and he wants us to shoot it when he finds us open … He has a lot of faith in us, a lot of confidence and encourages us to shoot it when he finds us on the perimeter.”

“If they make shots, that means less double-teams and triple-teams,” Embiid added. “So that makes my game easy when they take all those shots and they make them. That’s why I’m so hard on them to just let it fly and not even think about it.”

Green was efficient Saturday despite being limited to 16 minutes while coming back from hip pain, scoring 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-4 from three-point range. He hit a crucial shot from beyond the arc late in the third quarter when the Sixers surged to erase a 15-point deficit in the period.

It was Green’s first game in double figures since he scored 10 points during a Dec. 3 win at Atlanta, an indicator of how frustrating this season has been at times for him. The normally durable three-and-D wing has missed 18 games with hip and hamstring troubles and while in COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Since becoming a steady rotation player in 2011-12, only three times has he missed double-digit games during an entire regular season.

Yet Green hopes this return to action can “lift the team up in a positive way.”

“Just being on the floor, trying to give us an edge,” Green said. “But making shots definitely helps and hopefully will make it contagious. Guys are building their confidence up together. We’re all taking those shots more confidently when [Embiid] swings it out of the post. So there’s no hesitation. There’s no second-guessing.”

At least for one game, Sixers coach Doc Rivers had a larger set of “tools [to] build a better house.” Though backup point guard Shake Milton’s back contusion still lingered, Rivers rolled out an 11-man rotation against the Kings.

The last player who entered the game may have made one of the bigger impressions in brief spurts. Second-year guard Isaiah Joe checked in for the first time late in the third quarter, then again as a defender for the final possession when Sacramento had the chance at a game-tying or game-winning bucket. He was a plus-8 in less than four minutes of action.

“Isaiah is starting to push his way through, too,” Rivers said. “It’s funny, we look at him as a shooter. But as a group, we look at him as one of the better defenders on the ball, so good for him. …

“He can slide his feet, honestly. We were getting beat off the dribble off the first move.”

Second-year point guard Tyrese Maxey followed up a career-high 10 assists against the Lakers Thursday with seven against the Kings. He also scored seven of his 13 points in the fourth quarter, including a floater and transition layup off a steal that helped the Sixers take the lead for good early in the frame.

Still, Maxey is aiming to balance scoring and playmaking.

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Rivers continues to emphasize Maxey needs to use his burst to get into the paint, either to finish at the rim or create for others. The coach said that, at halftime of the Kings game, Maxey had between 10 and 12 plays designed for him to get downhill “and he just didn’t.” The coach added Maxey must learn how to “shake” more physical on-ball defenders, such as Kings rookie Davion Mitchell and Lakers veteran Avery Bradley.

“You just kind of figure it out with the flow of the game,” Maxey said. " … I wouldn’t say it’s tough. I just try to manage it. At the end of the day, I just want to do whatever it takes to help us win. If it means I need to be more aggressive and score the ball, then that’s what I’m gonna do.

“Sometimes, it means I need to go out there and have multiple assists and not be as aggressive and shoot less shots and just try to get my teammates involved.”