Nobody noticed Jared McCain’s begin to the season coming.
Selected sixteenth general by the Sixers out of Duke, the reigning Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month has been the workforce’s finest participant at occasions. He’d discovered himself in a little bit of a droop just lately however had beforehand recorded 20 factors or extra in seven straight video games.
On Tuesday, McCain was not within the beginning lineup for the second consecutive sport, however that didn’t cease him from breaking out of his rut. The 20-year-old was on the spot offense off the bench for the Sixers as he dropped 17 factors on 7-of-10 capturing and 3-of-4 from deep in an anxiety-inducing win over the Hornets.
The difficulty wasn’t McCain — it was Nick Nurse’s choice to not return to the rookie within the fourth quarter with the offense sputtering and the sport slipping away.
The Sixers led by as many as 19 and took a 14-point lead into the fourth. When McCain subbed out on the 8:33 mark, Charlotte reduce its deficit to 9. From there, second-year standout Brandon Miller placed on a present, nailing three threes in slightly over two minutes.
Outside of two big Paul George threes, the Sixers’ offense was leaking oil. The Hornets would go on to take their first lead because the first quarter on Miller’s fourth three of the interval with 1:32 left. The Sixers made 4 discipline targets (5 when you depend a Tyrese Maxey layup with the sport in hand within the closing seconds) over the ultimate six minutes and all 4 have been mainly particular performs created by George and Maxey.
So, with the offense sputtering, why not go to the workforce’s third-best scoring choice?
Nurse form of didn’t give an actual motive. This was his full response, per Keith Pompey of The Inquirer:
Sixers coach Nick Nurse on Jared McCain, who completed with 17 factors on 7-for-10 capturing:
“Very good off the bench efficiency for him. You are available in and also you want some scoring off the
bench. It was a troublesome choice – we have been struggling on the offensive finish. I used to be actually…— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) December 4, 2024
Some have turned on Nurse with the workforce’s poor begin. Has he been nice? No. But man, he’s handled one disaster after one other. Between guys being out and in of the lineup and different gamers simply flat-out enjoying poorly, most nights the options haven’t been apparent.
But Tuesday evening in Charlotte it felt like a no brainer. You wanted buckets and also you had a bucket-getter (who was scorching) sitting there on the bench. Also, McCain performed lower than 22 minutes general. He’s been too good to play so little.
Kyle Lowry, making his return from a hip pressure, performed six minutes within the fourth quarter. Respectfully, Lowry didn’t have a lot to supply Tuesday evening and that appeared apparent. Considering the 38-year-old hadn’t performed in over two weeks, it was even comprehensible — which made the choice to play him a lot much more befuddling.
Sure, McCain shouldn’t be practically nearly as good of a defender as Kelly Oubre, Jr. or Caleb Martin, however they weren’t doing a lot to comprise Miller. As exhausting as Guerschon Yabusele fought all evening, Nick Richards’ dimension was troublesome for the Sixers to cope with, permitting the 27-year-old huge to get straightforward baskets on the rim and reside on the line. The Sixers wanted to match the Hornets’ scoring and so they merely couldn’t for a lot of the ultimate body.
All of that to say, there was no reputable motive for McCain to sit down out the ultimate 8:33.
Play your finest gamers. Sometimes it’s that easy.
