Paul Reed’s key to defending Anthony Davis? Avoid fouling the ‘big flopper’

Social media went crazy Monday after Paul Reed’s comments about Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis were circulated.

The 76ers reserve center was asked: What are the keys to matching up against the eight-time All-Star?

“You know that he’s a big flopper,” Reed said. “So make sure that I don’t get in foul trouble early. Can’t be too aggressive with him. You know, he’s going to be flailing. So you’ve got to make sure that I stay out of foul trouble.”

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Reed has a knack for speaking his mind without having any ill intent. But these comments were perceived on social media as Reed calling out Davis before Monday night’s game with the Lakers at the Wells Fargo Center.

The thing is, Davis, who is taking 5.9 free throws per game, does have a reputation for flopping or acting to draw fouls. And Reed does pick up a lot of careless fouls during his limited time on the floor.

The fourth-year player, who averages just 13.4 minutes, had four fouls in games against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Toronto Raptors, and Milwaukee Bucks. Reed also collected three fouls against the Detroit Pistons and Phoenix Suns.

The Sixers are having a tough time defending elite guards.

Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points against them Saturday, marking the fifth time the Sixers have surrendered at least that many points to an All-Star guard.

“It’s always concerning a little bit,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said of the trend. “I thought it was with Shai’s night [Saturday]; we did a lot of things that we wanted to do.”

Scoring 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting in the first half, Gilgeous-Alexander did whatever he wanted over those 24 minutes. However, he scored just two points on 1-for-7 shooting in the third quarter before producing 10 points in the fourth. Gilgeous-Alexander did that by shooting 2-for-4 from the floor and making all six of his free throws in the final quarter.

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“I thought at least maybe we wore into him a little bit,” Nurse said. “Like he just made every shot he took in the first half. A lot of them were non-paint twos. A lot of them were heavily contested.”

But the Sixers did make him get off the ball as the night wore on, so Nurse was happy with how hard he had to work and how the team was able to cut down his production after intermission.

“Listen, I probably haven’t worried about that specifically,” Nurse said. “I just think there’s so little, little schematic team things I’m more trying to fix and take care of right now.”

Timberwolves All-Star shooting guard Anthony Edwards had 31 points against the Sixers on Wednesday. That came one night after Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star point guard Darius Garland torched them for 32.

On Nov. 14, Indiana Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton had 33 points and 15 assists. And Bucks All-Star point guard Damian Lillard had 39 points against the Sixers in the season opener on Oct. 26.

The Sixers are 1-4 in those games.

The Sixers are a competitive team. However, they know their communication on the court must improve.

“I think we struggle a little bit on that,” Nicolas Batum said. “We can get better. I know everything is there. We’ve got everything to be good. We’ve got good players, versatile players that can do a lot of stuff on offense and defense.

“We just need to be a little bit better at communication.”

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The Sixers boast the NBA’s top scoring tandem in NBA scoring leader Joel Embiid (32.1 points) and Tyrese Maxey (26.4). Tobias Harris (19.3) has reemerged as a scoring threat. And the Sixers are second in the league in blocks (6.5).

But they’re still learning how to acclimate a lot of new players into the rotation. So the need for improved communication is more on the defensive end.

“You get used to a different system, a different team,” Batum said. “You know, I didn’t do training camp with those guys. So just the terms, a couple details in a couple of games. But we are good.”

The Sixers are 13th in the NBA in defensive rating at 112.5 points allowed per 100 possessions.