James Ennis Dominates Off the Bench in Sixers' Win over Knicks

The Philadelphia 76ers returned back to action on Friday night after having the holiday off. As they traveled to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Knicks for the second time this year, the Sixers had to make a couple of somewhat significant tweaks to the starting lineup due to a number of reasons.

For starters, shooting guard Josh Richardson missed another matchup. After suffering a minor hamstring injury, Richardson was unable to make it to the second half of Wednesday's game against the Kings. To avoid further damage, the Sixers also ruled Richardson out for the Knicks game officially, about an hour before tip-off.

J-Rich wouldn't be the only starter out of the lineup, though. Power forward Al Horford also got the night off as the Sixers intend on issuing the veteran big man some rest on most back-to-back's this season. Therefore, Horford isn't injured and should be available to play in Saturday's matchup against Indiana.

Without Horford and Richardson in the lineup, the Sixers elected to start the rookie Matisse Thybulle, and the streaky veteran, Furkan Korkmaz on Friday night. Korkmaz had an average night, putting up nine points in 31 minutes. However, he struggled from long-range, which happens to be his specialty when in the lineup.

Thybulle wasn't much of a factor for the Sixers, either. As the rookie clocked in with 21 minutes of playing time, he was responsible for one rebound, one steal, and two assists. Unfortunately, he didn't build off of his career-high game in points from the other night. Instead, Thybulle chucked up a goose egg with zero points against the Knicks.

Considering the struggles from Thybulle and Korkmaz, somebody off the bench had to come in and pick up the slack. Fortunately for the Sixers, they had a willing veteran, who contributed enough points to help his team win. Although James Ennis doesn't get a ton of credit often, he was somewhat of an unlikely hero on Friday night.

"He may not get a ton of credit towards the media, but in our locker room, he holds well-rounded respect from everybody," says Sixers' starting forward, Tobias Harris, regarding James Ennis following the game. "Tonight, he came in and played his butt off on the defensive end. [He] was able to hit some big shots, and we don't come out of here with a victory tonight without him."

.@JamesDa_Truth, how do you feel this mornin' after droppin' 20???#PhilaUnite

🎥⤵️ pic.twitter.com/01R9R1QobH
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 30, 2019

While Ennis certainly helped the Sixers form their comeback win over the Knicks, the veteran forward wasn't going to take much credit for his own play. "[There was] a lot of unselfish play tonight," Ennis said after the victory. "The ball was going in for me tonight, and I'm glad. I'm very happy. I put a lot of work into my game, and hard work pays off."

The hard work surely did pay off for Ennis on Friday night as he knocked down 20 points off the bench, accounting for the second-highest point total on the team behind Joel Embiid. And as the Sixers struggled with their long-range shooting throughout the night, Ennis was efficient from three, draining three of his four attempted shots from beyond the arc. Despite playing from behind for a good portion of the night, the Sixers ended up defeating the Knicks 101-95. Now, they will return home for a Saturday night battle against the Indiana Pacers on a two-game winning streak.