With the Philadelphia 76ers missing superstar Joel Embiid right now due to a bone contusion, they have to rely on other players to put themselves in their place and provide production.
They have decided to turn to the great 23-year-old fourth man, Tony Bradley, in his place and the young man continues to deliver. He scored 18 points, 11 rebounds and two steals in Tuesday’s 108-98 win over the Golden State Warriors as he continues to produce.
The Sixers needed all their production on this one, as veteran Dwight Howard struggled a bit from the bench as Philadelphia advanced 24 points on that one.
“I just thought it was amazing,” coach Doc Rivers said. “If I had a star of the night, I probably would be tonight. I thought Dwight was fighting tonight and we needed a promotion in that position, and when he came back in the fourth quarter, I thought he did everything right. ”
Bradley seemed to be able to succeed against Warriors debutant James Wiseman as he used his size and strength against him. He looked like an experienced veteran who provided the team with what they needed.
“I just want to play every game,” Bradley said. “Come with a little energy and effort. Just show an engine “.
The Sixers definitely appreciated his engine and his energy in it. When Philadelphia needed a spark to move them back in the right direction, the young old man arrived with a great play.
“He’s a guy who’s come in these minutes and he’s doing a great job with them,” Tobias Harris said. “He loves to play, he comes to play, he has a lot of energy, he doesn’t really say much, but he goes out there, plays the tail and just does so much dirty work for us and defends really well. It just impacted the game on both sides, so guys like that, it’s important. That’s winning basketball right there and it really helped us win tonight’s game. “
As mentioned before, Bradley is only 23 years old, although he has been in the league for over three seasons. He still has a lot to develop and is doing all the dirty work the team needs every night.
Some younger players will try to do too much when they meet a guy of Embiid’s caliber, but Bradley doesn’t. He stays within himself, helps the team in a big way.
“We keep up with him about falling in love with his role and being great at his role and doing it every night, and he’s doing it,” Rivers finished. “More importantly, just his job, man, I think he has lost 20 pounds since the start of camp. Work out after every workout after every game. I am very happy for him. We forget how young he is too. Sometimes I even do it. I’m sure you do too. “
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
