On Monday night, the Philadelphia 76ers lost their Utah Summer League debut to the San Antonio Spurs 74-71. In that game, we saw the future and potential dominance of big man Jahlil Okafor.
On Tuesday night, the Sixers took on the Boston Celtics in a Summer League Atlantic division battle. The Sixers pulled out a tough 76-62 victory over the Celtics, despite rough shooting in the first half.
If you missed last night’s game, you might be asking yourself, what changed in the second half? The play of Furkan Aldemir and Richaun Holmes helped change the outcome of the game for the Sixers. These are three takeaways from last night’s game that should have you hopeful for the final game in Utah with Aldemir and Holmes in mind.
1. Furkan Aldemir plays better despite first Summer League performance
Second year big man Furkan Aldemir had a rough Summer League debut on Monday night scoring zero points on 0-of-3 shooting from the field. Even though, he did not score a single point, he had 11 rebounds (nine on the defensive glass).
Rebounding is Aldemir’s strong suit but last night he showed a little bit of that shooting touch as he had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. The majority of Aldemir’s points came from the three-point line as he went 3-of-5 from distance.
If you don’t believe me, here is a Vine from the Sixers:
If Aldemir can keep on developing his offensive game to go along with his rebounding, he can be a productive big man coming off the bench this upcoming season.
2. Richaun Holmes looks like another second round steal
Remember last year’s NBA Draft when the Sixers drafted both Jerami Grant and K.J. McDaniels in the second round? No one knew what to expect from those two young guys, but both second round steals gave the Sixers production.
The same could be possibly said for Richaun Holmes of Bowling Green whom the Sixers took in the second round in this year’s draft with 37th overall pick.
Holmes brings energy on both sides of the ball and does a little bit of everything to help your team win. In his Summer League debut on Monday night, he only had nine points and three rebounds. But in last night’s game, he looked more comfortable in the offense scoring 13 points on 12 shots and grabbing eight rebounds. It will be interesting to see what he does on Thursday night against the Utah Jazz.
3. Jordan McRae needs to let the game come to him
Last year’s second round pick Jordan McRae spent time in Australia and then with the Sixers’ D-League affiliate, the Delaware 87ers. Many people expected McRae to be seasoned enough to possibly make the Sixers roster to compete for the starting two guard spot.
The first two games of the Utah Summer League have shown us that McRae might not be ready for Philly yet with his play thus far.
Through the first two games, McRae has taken questionable shots and driving carelessly through the lane trying to make tough layups. Our very own Adio Royster, would say that is very Tony Wroten-ish. If you seen Wroten play, you will understand where that comes from. In Tuesdsay night’s game, McRae scored 13 points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field, to go along with five rebounds and three assists. With that being said, on Thursday night, McRae needs to let the game come to him and not force bad shots. He needs to take what the defense is giving him and make the correct play.
The Sixers finish up the Utah Summer League on Thursday night as they will be taking on the Utah Jazz at 9:00 pm ET.
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
