For a refresher on what constitutes a Bell Ringer, please reference the initial post.
Bell Ringer Season Standings:
Joel Embiid - 18
Ben Simmons - 15
Jimmy Butler - 6
JJ Redick - 5
Robert Covington - 1
Dario Saric - 1
T.J. McConnell - 1
Furkan Korkmaz - 1
Landry Shamet - 1
With Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, and Wilson Chandler all sidelined, the Sixers fell to the Nuggets in Denver, 126-110. Here were the relatively better or more interesting performances from the game.
Corey Brewer: 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals
Brewer’s performance against the Rockets was certainly helpful to the cause that night, but it mostly still seemed like a fun novelty act. His play against Denver continued to solidly the idea that he can be a helpful member of the rotation throughout the rest of the season.
Brewer started off hot, shooting 4-for-4 from the field in the first quarter. His manic energy had him flying all over the place on both ends of the court. He grabbed a rebound and took it down the court himself to draw a foul on a drive to the basket. He finished with a pretty lay-in on a baseline drive. Heck, Brewer even dunked so hard on one play that he clipped the Nuggets’ Torrey Craig in the head with his legs while hanging on the rim.
Defensively, he showed good instincts, stepping in front of a Nikola Jokic post-up for a steal, timing a perfect pickpocket around half court and then feeding Ben Simmons for a slam. Brewer’s outside shooting will regress, but a 2.5-and-D wing is much better than much of what the Sixers have to work with at the moment.
Corey Brewer accidentally kicked Torrey Craig in the head after hanging on the rim... pic.twitter.com/uelV2PeXNj
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 27, 2019
JJ Redick: 22 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists
Redick led the team in scoring on the evening, shooting the ball well until missing on a few shots as the Sixers frantically tried to stay within striking distance in the fourth quarter. Still, Redick shot a reasonable 9-for-19 from the field and 4-for-10 from behind the arc, helping the team briefly cut the Denver lead to two points in the third quarter. The veteran guard also made a beautiful wraparound pass to Simmons, showing how much he is capable of sucking the defense in one direction.
JJ slings it to Ben for the jam!@statefarm | #HereTheyCome pic.twitter.com/kiSgJ7NAFL
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 27, 2019
Ben Simmons: 19 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists
Ben had a brutal game finishing around the rim, punishment from the Karma gods for briefly trolling before the game that he would be participating in the dunk contest (then shortly thereafter clarifying he was joking). A 6-for-17 shooting night isn’t anything close to what the Sixers needed on a night when the other two members of the Big Three were unavailable.
However, there were things to like from his performance against the Nuggets. Playing much more of a big man role, we got to see Simmons act as a roll-man out of the pick-and-roll and stomp down the lane for a bucket. Simmons set more screens in all sorts of way, even just subtly positioning himself to free Redick for an open jumper. I think Ben has a lot more value defensively out on the perimeter, rather than getting backed down by a monster like Nikola Jokic, but it’s nice that he has that versatility. Oh, and he shot his first 3-pointer of the season! It was a heave and didn’t hit rim, but it’s a start!
BEN SIMMONS HAS ATTEMPTED A 3 pic.twitter.com/1Z9jVc9pEC
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) January 27, 2019
Landry Shamet: 8 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists
We saw a lot of Landry running the point Saturday night, and we’ll likely see more to come after he dropped a rookie career-high 7 assists against just a single turnover. Shamet looked poised running the offense; he didn’t have a tremendous shooting night, but he took good shots and looked comfortable. He also made some above average reads, like on this lob to Simmons.
What goes up....
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) January 27, 2019
Shamet to Simmons for the oop! Sixers trail, 59-56. pic.twitter.com/ejLJIpmLh3
Shake Milton: 11 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal
Speaking of rookie career-highs, Shake had one for scoring with his 11 points on the game. Not only did Milton shoot 3-for-5 from downtown (and hey, you can never have enough shooting), but I was also really impressed when he pump-faked a hard close-out and dipped in for an elbow jumper. He also had a steal when he fought around and intercepted a post entry pass. They were 20 encouraging minutes from Shake on the evening.
Shake Milton with the dribble drive + pull up off a hard hedge
— Thiago Scabbia (@TScabbia) January 27, 2019
There are like 1.5 guys on the Sixers roster with this skill set pic.twitter.com/iLaHD3KCJZ
Poll
Who was your Bell Ringer in Denver?
This poll is closed
-
72%
Corey Brewer
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6%
JJ Redick
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6%
Ben Simmons
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1%
Landry Shamet
-
12%
Shake Milton