Philadelphia 76ers, Shake Milton Bounce Back With Win Over Spurs

Following a disappointing loss on Saturday night against the Pacers, the Philadelphia 76ers were looking to bounce back on Monday with the team's second seeding game against the San Antonio Spurs. While the entire team looked to treat Monday as a bounce-back game, nobody on the Sixers needed to put on a stellar performance more than the second-year point guard, Shake Milton.

Down in Orlando on Saturday, Milton made his first start at point guard with guys like Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid in the lineup. After playing for over 19 minutes, Milton turned the ball over a handful of times, got into early foul trouble, and failed to drain a single basket after taking just one shot throughout the game.

Monday would soon become Milton's revenge performance. He didn't fire out of the gate with a big game, though. Instead, he slowly but surely built up his confidence throughout the battle. Monday's matchup was far from perfect from Philly as a whole. 

Despite being in the lead for a good chunk of the game, the Sixers allowed San Antonio to form a comeback in the fourth quarter to take the lead. Once again, the Sixers' fourth-quarter defense broke down as Philly allowed the Spurs to collect over 40 points in the final quarter alone. For a moment, it was San Antonio's game to lose. But thanks to the attention that Joel Embiid drew during the final offensive possession for the Sixers, the Spurs left none other than Shake Milton wide open from three. 

With seven seconds left to go, Shake Milton launched a deep shot to take the lead away from the Spurs. Although Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, and even Josh Richardson had a more productive game overall, Milton's game-winning shot will be the talk of the town on Tuesday morning as the second-year guard is back in Philly's good graces.

Milton ended the night with 16 points as he shot six for nine from the field. Meanwhile, Embiid and Harris collectively totaled for 52 points. The Sixers understand they have a lot to clean up moving forward, but Monday's victory was a big-time confidence booster for the second-year guard Shake Milton and the rest of the team as well.