Talking Shake, Georges, and More: Shorthanded Sixers Defeat Magic

no Tyrese Maxie, Jaden, Springer, Matisse. I will also unavailable last night, so it was a difficult situation for this team. Is not the first time that they've listed this season and this season and this week and for not the first time this season and this weekend byas Harris Shane Milton. Tremendous last night week game for George Niang Dante Milton has been great all all around effort four the seventy six Ers to get the win. Matt Murphy, Good morning.

How did you feel about last night's plin? Hey, Lauren, it was really fun to watch this Sixers win over the Magic. A good bounce back win for the team after the game in Charlotte. Again shorthanded as a word that has been used so much throughout this stretch, but it's fitting. And the guys stepped up a bunch of them individually. That will work our way through the box score and all that. And when it comes to George Niang, how about how clutch he has been this year as

well a lot of his threes. I mean, he's making such a large percentage of his threes this year, and he has throughout his NBA career, but they've been clutch, and they were last night three for three in the fourth quarter. The team defense was also something I looked at, only gave up twenty points in the third, twenty three in the fourth. But on the offensive side, some really

fun to watch individual performances, headlined by Shake Milton. As is always the case, We're going to run you guys through the box score at the top here, so as you hear things that stand out to you, make sure you continue sending the dms and send some comments. The comment numbers up to six in the bottom right hand corner. Let's get it up to ten by the time I finish up with the box score. So without further ado, I'll jump in. Matt Murphy let me know what stands

out to you. Everybody who's listening. This is a team building activity, so let us know what stands out to you. Last night, the seventy Sixers one oh seven the Orlando Magic ninety nine. The headline quarter had to have been the third. The Sixers top the Magic thirty to twenty in that Oh sorry, guys, I lost connection for a second top the Magic thirty to twenty in that third quarter. So guys, let's get into now. The key performances from last night's win. Twenty four points for Shake Milton. He

nears a triple double. It was his first double double of his career and almost got to triple double territory with just one rebound. Shy twenty four points, nine rebounds, and ten assists. He had a steal and a block. He shot seven for thirteen from the field, four for seven from long range on a perfect six for six from the foul line. Twenty three points and ten rebounds for Tobias Harris. He added five assists in a steel to finish his line. Ten for twenty one from the field.

Struggled from three but managed to get it done everywhere else last night. Really strong defense PJ. Tucker, of course, did a great job against young Paolo Bounchero in the beginning of the game, and then Benchero's duties were assigned to Tobias Harris for some of that second half, and he really did do a great job beyond Harris. D'Anthony Melton also a starter again last night, thirteen points, four assists and four steals again, four rebounds and four assists

and four steals again for d' anthony Melton. Mantras Harrold fourteen points, eight rebounds and an assist, and then George Niang a bench high eighteen points, a rebound and two assists. He shot a crazy good six for eight from the field, five for seven from three point range for Concork mods. Paul Read Daniel House Junior, all also logging minutes last night. Matt Murphy, what stands out to you? I think it's

got to be Shake Milton's line. You could go any direction with a couple of the guys, Milton, Tobias Harris, George Niang all of their final stat lines. I'm usually a team stat guy at this point of the show, but I will pick Shake Milton's entire box score line particularly the forty one minutes played and the four for

seven from three point range. I know we're getting comments, we're getting messages, and we have audio to play later in the show, but if people will bear with me for a second, I want to read something from the archives about Shake Milton. Of course, he started his career on a two way contract with the Sixers and the Bluecoats the twenty eighteen nineteen season. This is from October

twenty eighth. Team wrote something about Shake interviewed Rich Phillips, the voice of the Mustangs, his college announcer, and I think this is fitting given that Shake is stepping up while the team has some players missing. This is just one quote that Rich Phillips gave me. He said in his junior year, Shake was really emerging as the primary offensive force for SMU, and there were times when it just seemed he was determined to not let his team fail.

The highlight of that was a January game at Wichita State. SMU had lost three straight before the trip, and the Shockers were ranked fourth in the country and had won twenty seven straight games at home. Early in the first half, Grey Foster, SMU's number two scorer, suffered a season ending knee injury. In light of all that, Shake just took it upon himself to win the game. He scored a career high thirty three points, making five of six threes. On a couple of those threes, he was so far

out he was nearly on the mid court logo. It was a simply fabulous performance that just served as a perfect example of what he was about. And afterwards he took all the praise and stride, which is just the way he rolls. Lauren Rosen, does that sound familiar? That sounds like the Shake Milton we know, and it's really been a pleasure to just watch his growth and development

over his time with the seventy Sixers. It's interesting that we talk about this a lot with young players or with players that find themselves in the second half of a rotation. In the NBA, when you're on a good team, it is a absolute fight to get minutes, and that's been the case for Shake Milton for the entirety of his Sixers tenure. But what we can always certainly say about Shake is what he is given opportunities, he embraces

them and he does a great job. It's been really cool to see him consistently be a microwave in the words of his teammates and coaches who call him the microwave, but to also see him stay so committed to his craft and to advancing his game, it's been an absolute pleasure to watch. Shake of course used to shoot alongside Seth Curry and learned a lot from Seth Curry, was able to observe Jj Reddick now works out a lot with Tyrese Maxie and it's been special to see that

Shaike has been with the team. He's now one of the longest tenured sixers alongside for Concorkmus and Joel Embiid, and just watching his development and seeing the way that he's taken from others games and grown his own. Last night, I think the biggest thing Matt about Shake's game, at least to me, and I'm just going to echo Doc Rivers here. Shake has always been a scorer. We remember him scoring thirty nine against then Doc Rivers Clippers. We

remember him scoring in big ways throughout his career. But the distribution and the way he's grown as a sharer and as someone who is able to find and put his teammates in the spots that they want to be in to succeed. Ten assists is nothing to scoff at. It was a career high for Shake last night again, his first double double at his career just one rebound.

Shy of getting a triple double before he ever got a double double, but really cool to see the way that he has grown his game as a distributor and not You have to wonder if the way that he and Tyrese Maxie have been working out together in summers, for example, Tyrese has really really prioritized learning to distribute. The two of them both now able to learn from James Harden, one of the greatest two ever distribute a basketball.

Really cool to see him grow in that way. And I know that you covered him from the start of his Bluecoat's career and into his sixer's career. What are you seeing from Shake as a distributor that looks different to you? I think that's just a great point. I think when I say forty one minutes played a lot of it's just opportunity, right, So when your role changes, you have more opportunity to distribute. You're out there for longer.

It's not so much focused on all right, I'm in the corner maybe, and I've got to take these threes and make these threes. He talked recently about Shake being Shake means playing free, and I think that's what you're seeing. And playing free for him allows him to not only score, but get his teammates involved as well. I love when Winona checks in about Shake and calls him a quiet storm. Whenona says Shake really shook things up. He is a

quiet storm, consistent, focused, and always intentional. Another player that we received a tweet about from was about Tobias Harris from Gina. Tobias has been absolutely wonderful during the shorthanded stretch. His veteran leadership is coming in clutch. All caps with three smiling emojis, and Doc Rivers had a lot of good things to say about Shake after the game, and also about the impact that Tobias Harris had on that

game against the Magic as well. Yeah, Tobias no stranger to stepping up in big moments and making sure to be, of course, the ultimate professional. Those are those are words that are constantly used to describe Tobias Harris and of course, with traditionally three of the Sixers top four options out

right now in MB Harden and Maxie. Tobias Harris has had, like Shake Milton, the opportunity to score more, to be more of a focal point in this offense, but not just to be a focal point for the team on the court, to make sure the team is staying together off the court, on the bench, being that professional that we talk about, and it's been cool to see Tobias continue to thrive and adapt no matter the situation that

he's put in. It was cool to listen to both Shake and George talk about Tobias last night, discussing the way that he makes sacrifices for his teammates, for example, when they are all healthy, the way that he has had to adjust his entire game, the way that he has grown as a catch and shooter, especially since James Harden joined this team, but the way he adapts when everybody's available, and the way that he can adapt in the absolute opposite direction and become a featured focal point

when not everybody is available, but to do it with the same attitude every day. That's something that's really stood out about the way that George Niang, who's a close friend of Tobias is, speaks about his friend Tobias the way that he regardless of how he is being featured or what is being asked of him, he brings the same attitude, the same energy, and the same leadership to the floor or every day. It's been an absolute pleasure to watch Tobias Harris and really cool like shake to

see him thrive in these situations totally. And when you when you talk about George though, I can't help but think about his postgame comments about Philadelphia. I know you do it, I know you tweeted it out, but let's do it. Let's do it. So this is George Niang. Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer asking George why he is such a good fit in Philadelphia, and George honestly articulated it as well as anybody possibly could. Here's George.

I think, you know, Philly fans and people, you know, they look at me and what I look like, and they're like, oh, I can probably be that guy and be out there held the court. And that's probably one reason. But I think I'm relatable, funny, I say what's on my mind, and I'm real, and I think that's what the city of Philadelphia is. Um so we get along great, and they love someone that's going to stir it up and talk a little trash and I've kind of, you know,

embraced that. But the love that they show is unconditional. There's nothing like Philadelphia, you know, when the city's buzzing, teams are winning, to heck of a place to be thought. Of course, George Niang discussing Tobias Harris and his impact, Matt just tossed some stuff in the chat Tyrese Maxie Live tweeting last night from Philadelphia, sending Tyres our best

as always as he continues his rehab. But really cool to hear that George has embraced Philly and has such a good pulse on what Philly looks for in its athletes. He really is perfect Taylor made for this city, and I love Matt. What Tobias Harris had to say about George as well. I'm going to read his quote Tobias Harris on George Niang. George is a one man culture changer. He comes in, he has that positive attitude, a great feel for the game of basketball and how to play

the right way. He's been amazing for this team, Amazing for this organization, Matt, your thoughts on either of those guys, their friendship, the way they talk about each other, the way George talks about Philly. We got a lot of wholesome content this morning, that's for sure. Absolutely. I've seen various iterations of tweets from six Ers fans Philadelphia sports fans that sounds similar to what George said about himself and why they maybe the fans gravitate towards him a

little bit. And it was fun to hear that again just now. I think one thing, a couple of things about George is everyone always points to the three point shooting, which is how he's found his way in this league. And like I said, three for three in the fourth quarter in this first game against the Magic. He had a kind of a fancy drive at the end of

the third quarter. As well. He's had a knack for getting some and ones this year, so his finishing from two has been, in my opinion, improved, and then the three is on top of that. But I think, like Tobias said, it just transcends his play on the court almost the way that he is around the team in the locker room. I love the description from Tobias about George a one man culture changer. That's some high praise

from a guy that's been around the league. But it needed during this run and needed in the game against Orlando. The team's now won five of seven and they'll get Orlando again on Sunday at six Eastern, so I'm looking forward to see that. Of course, Orlando is going to make some adjustments. These two games series are sort of like mini playoff series in a sense. They've got the length, they've got a bunch of seven footers and all that.

They had a couple guys out. They didn't shoot the three well, but the way the sixers are going, that team chemistry is off the charts, and George Niang is right near the top. For the reason why, no doubt about it. Let's hear from Tobias Harris now talking about George Niang. I'm pulling up that audio as we speak, and then we can also hear Tobias talking about Shake Milton. Here is Tobias discussing George Niang and what he means

to the group. I'm excited about what he's bringing. Well, I get excited because he's always like trying to talk junk out there, so I have to gass him up so that the group gets gassed up even more as well.

So that's why I always I always have a little antics when he scores, because he always says something after every basket he scores, um, So I gotta, you know, I got, I gotta, I gotta follow his vibe sometime out there, and you know, let him know that I'm with him on the bench, like or when I'm in a uh you know, when I'm on the court with him as well, like I'm with him, and yeah, he's he's such a great teammate as well and very energetic, has a lot of energy. So I'm just responding right

to his energy. Yeah, good to hear Tobias talking about responding to George's energy. If you followed to Bias, you know, he's a little bit more reserved. He's not quite as likely to talk junk as he says, to use his words as George Nyang would. But it's been cool to see George help to Bias out of his shell a little bit, and George and Tobias of course backing each other up regardless of who's out there on the floor.

It's been a pleasure to watch the two of them. Um, Matt, I'm gonna I'm gonna give you Tobias talking about Shake Milton and then I'll let you wrap it up. Here's Tobias discussing Shake Milton and his performance over these last few games. He's been great, just um, you know, he's

out there, he's fine, his flow, running the team. Um, you know, he's he's always been a verier score on the floor, but over the last however many gangs has been, he's just really shown his whole, his whole arsenal and offensive end and really how he can get to his spots and raise up and shoot and create plays. Like tonight, I thought the biggest thing was his ten assis right like you know, um get into lane, kicking out, searching, looking for guys and just overall effort twenty four ten nine.

I wish you would have got another rebound in here, but it's safe for another time. But he's been phenomenal for us. Like like we talked about, you know after the Brooklyn Games, opportunity for a lot of guys to be in different positions that they haven't been and to take advantage of it, and he's one of them. Was doing an amazing job at it go ahead. That's Tobias Harris discussing shake Milton. Always good to hear from the players. I know you guys hear from me and Matt frequently.

I'd rather let you hear from the players. Matt, your thoughts and your thoughts about tomorrow's rematch against your Lando Magic, Lauren, I have a question for you. This was not submitted by anyone other than my own brain here. How was the Thanksgiving holiday for the team given that they are on the road. If you could share as much or as little about that as you can, Yeah, Matt, I

can be sorry. We're dealing with some connection stuff here in Orlando, so I'm hoping everybody can continue to hear me. But really cool for the team to be able to have an off day on Thanksgiving. I will say Doc Rivers has lived in Orlando for a long time and maintains a residence here. Tobias Harris played in Orlando for a long time. Beeball Paul's family is in Orlando, so the Sixers some have had family come join out on

the road. Some were able to celebrate the holiday in their own homes, which is awesome and cool to see this team that clearly, so clearly when you hear these quotes from postgame enjoy spending time with one another, get to do so over the holidays, And of course it's tough to not be able to be with your family or to be home over the holidays. But this Orlando stop actually ended up being a pretty good one. And of course some warmth, some good food, some good friends,

some good family. Great for the team to get to spend time, whether they were at their own homes or with one another. Good vibes all around, especially considering the shorthanded nature of what the Sixers are going through right now. Matt, next game up is Magic Part two. Thanks for sharing that, Lauren, six pm Eastern on NBC Sports Philadelphia and ninety seven five The Fanatic as well. The Sixers ten and nine,

five of their last seven in the win column. The big performance from Shake Milton as well as Tobias Harris and George Niang in the first game against the Magic. Now they'll do it again. If we didn't get to your question or comment today, hopefully we will be doing this again soon. Sixers Twitter spaces after Sixers wins available as podcasts on the seventy Sixers Insiders Podcast Network. Thanks to all of you for being here, and Lauren Rosen thanks to you. As always, we will talk to everybody

next time. Thank you.