76ers' Nick Nurse Assesses Paul Reed's Showing in Absence of Embiid

On night two of a back-to-back, the Philadelphia 76ers had two major obstacles in front of them. First, they had to quickly bounce back after an overtime loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers while facing the Western Conference’s current top dogs, the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Second, the Sixers had to go toe-to-toe with a team for the first time without Joel Embiid this season.

With Embiid once again putting together an MVP campaign through his first 14 games of the year, averaging 32 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists, his absence was expected to leave a notable hole in the Sixers as his two-way dominance played a huge part in Philly’s 10-3 start.

The absence of Embiid came with an extended opportunity for two players. One being the recently acquired Marcus Morris, who made his way to the Sixers from the Los Angeles Clippers. The other being Paul Reed, who has established himself as Embiid’s go-to backup these days.

One might’ve thought the latter player would get the nod to start for the Sixers on Tuesday night in Embiid’s absence. However, Nick Nurse went in a different direction. Instead of starting Reed, he kept the bench unit in the same position, leaving Reed at the backup five while shifting Morris into the lineup.

“I just wanted to give us a chance to have five guys on the floor to space the floor, give us good spacing,” Nurse said, explaining his decision to go with Morris.

Reed might not have gotten the start, but he certainly saw an increase in his playing time. Typically good for 12.7 minutes per game, Reed collected a season-high of 26 minutes against the Timberwolves on Tuesday night. After the game, Nurse was enthused about Reed’s showing.

“He was Paul Reed, right? He played really hard, he had a ton of rebounds, I felt like he got a bunch of offensive rebounds,” said Nurse. “I thought he made some good finishes in there. I thought he had a good game. It was nice to get him more than ten minutes or 12 minutes. You know, gave him 26 minutes tonight, and he deserves them. I thought he played really hard and fought really good.”

From the start of his shift, Reed brought an ideal boost for a Sixers team that needed every ounce of energy after an overtime loss on Tuesday. Offensively, Reed was efficient with his shooting, averaging 56 percent from the field. Reed finished his night with ten points, tying his season-high.

On the glass, Reed was a force. He grabbed six rebounds on the offensive end. In total, he was responsible for nine rebounds, which led the Sixers in that department on Wednesday.

Despite impressive outings from Embiid’s replacements, as Reed and Morris put together solid showings, the Sixers couldn’t overcome the difficult circumstances in Minnesota. With a stellar two-way showing from the home team, the Timberwolves put the Sixers away with a 112-99 win. With that loss, the Sixers dropped to 10-5 on the year. They’ll get the next couple of days off before facing the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.