Maxey, Rivers are Excited for Shake Milton's Return to Sixers

Shake Milton made his 2021-2022 NBA season debut on Thursday night against the Detroit Pistons. Although he was a candidate to potentially win the starting point guard position on the Sixers a few weeks back, an ankle injury derailed Milton's chances of running with the starting lineup momentarily.

Milton missed the final two preseason games and the first four regular-season games. Despite not getting an actual practice session in before Thursday night, the 25-year-old guard earned some notable minutes against Detroit.

"It definitely felt good," Milton said after checking in for 16 minutes off the bench against the Pistons. "After a while sitting out, it's kind of hard. Sitting there, watching the team. Of course, you're cheering them on, but you also want to be out there helping them win. So, it felt good to be out there tonight."

During his time on the court, Milton drained five of his ten attempted shots from the field. Two of his buckets came from deep. In total, he finished the night with 13 points, leading the Sixers' bench in scoring. "He was great," said Sixers head coach Doc Rivers after the outing. "I thought he was rusty early on, but overall, he was fantastic."

Tyrese Maxey will split minutes with Milton moving forward. As the two are really the only experienced point guards on the roster, they'll likely rotate at the starting point guard position when Milton gets fully acclimated with the team once again. And that's something the second-year guard looks forward to.

"It's great to have Shake n' Bake back," Maxey said on Thursday. "He does what he does. He gets hot extremely quick. He did really well today. It was great to see him. I'm glad he's healthy."

Milton, Maxey, and the Sixers will return to the court on Saturday to face the Atlanta Hawks for the first time since Game 7 last year. As Milton gets a day to engage in a full workout before the matchup, he could see his role slightly increase on Saturday as his ankle continues to feel better.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.

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