While Tyrese Maxey’s milestone night—52 points on an effective 46 percent from the field—was rightfully the center of attention for much of the Philadelphia 76ers’ double overtime thriller against the San Antonio Spurs.
However, another guy drew the attention of the Philadelphia crowd: Ricky Council IV had a fantastic evening, logging 22 minutes of playing time, in part because of the Sixers’ continued injury woes and Sunday’s back-to-back schedule.
With 11 points on 80 percent shooting and three steals, the G-League standout proved to be a valuable asset both on the offensive and defensive ends.
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Nick Nurse, the head coach of the Sixers, was not impressed by this defensive prowess and thought he did a good job of disrupting the Spurs’ offensive tempo.
“I think his defense was excellent; he was really upsetting the rhythm and covering the entire court,” Nurse said. “He was really pacing, keeping his man in front, and slowing down the initial burst of their attacks.”
Nurse, however, was also quick to praise Council’s efforts on the offensive end of the court, emphasizing his quickness in transition. She went into great detail about his play in the second overtime period, when the 22-year-old drove in and passed the ball to Nico Batum, who was waiting to effectively seal the victory with a three-pointer from the corner.
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In the first place, he was excellent there, but Nurse added, “Ricky’s kind of like if he gets some space, he is going to go downhill too.” He hit a layup, was fouled, and then made an amazing pass to Nico with a wraparound in his left hand that was somewhat of a dagger move.
This season, Council has played in more games than any other Sixers two-way player, including recently promoted Jeff Dowtin, who played 12 minutes against the Spurs. Smith has been surpassed in playing time by Smith.
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