On March 22, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and Philadelphia defeated the Heat, the No. 1 in the East, 113-106, without Harden and Embiid, and the ranking also rose to No. 2 in the East. And an important reason why Philadelphia can win the game is that their substitute players have played too well in this game.
In this game, Philadelphia won the Heat by 17 points on the bench score 46-29, which is what Niang and Millsap achieved when they were promoted to start. Milton had 20 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists on 9-of-18 shooting, and Colkmaz also had 18 points and 6 rebounds on 7-of-12 shooting.
Kolkmaz had been in poor shape before, so much so that Rivers revealed after the game that the assistant coaching team was shocked when he decided to put Kolkmaz in the substitute rotation lineup. But Rivers still had a lot of trust in Colkmaz, and he was rewarded handsomely for his decision.
However, compared to Colkmaz, the more surprising thing is probably Milton. He averaged 13 points per game last season, but this season' growth with Maxi, coupled with Harden's arrival, has led to a plummeting drop in Milton's playing time and tactical standing on the court. Because unlike other no-ball pitchers, Milton needs a certain amount of ball to play, but now after Harden's arrival, not to mention him, even the starting Harris has a lot of ball power, and due to Harden's recent increase in playing time, Milton's chances are naturally less and less.
Judging from the situation in this game, Milton still has a certain strength, and if he can completely abandon him just because he can hold the ball and have some conflicts with Harden's playing style, it is obviously not cost-effective. So It seems that Rivers should also consider whether to adjust the current player's playing time, appropriately reduce Harden's playing time, and transfer it to Milton.
In this way, Harden can get enough rest, play more efficiently, and Milton can play a role without being completely wasted on the bench. With more rotational manpower, Philadelphia's championship hopes will naturally become bigger.