BROOKLYN, NY -- In the aftermath of the Sixers' dominant 123-94 victory over the undermanned Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night, the media met with the unlikeliest of players: rookie two-way wing Justin Edwards, who received the second rotation cameo of his professional career and made good on the opportunity, scoring 11 points on seven shots while grabbing five rebounds in 23 minutes.
"I think we need that wing presence first and foremost, just defensively and on the glass," Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said after the game. "It was really good to see him. He seems to get shots. I don't know how long that will last, but I think it's just because he's kind of in the right place and the ball finds him a little bit. Obviously, making them -- that's huge if he's going to do that. But again, just that presence defensively and on the glass is kind of what we need."
In the newest Sixers soundbites, a fresh batch of quotes from Edwards, Nurse and Paul George on the team's dominant victory in Brooklyn:
• Edwards on what he has tried to do during his recent minutes with the Sixers:
"I feel like just doing what they want me to do, you know, just going out there and trying to play the role that they want me to do at the best of ability."
• Edwards on what the team has conveyed to him it hopes to see him do in his minutes:
"Just playing defense and when I get opportunities to make a basketball play, just make the basketball play. Like, if that's making an open three or just making the next read."
• Edwards on whether his extensive playing time with the Delaware Blue Coats in the G League has helped him gain confidence and comfort as a professional:
"Not really, but like, this is my first game up here being comfortable. The last couple games I played and I was overthinking a lot. But now that I feel like I've got my feet under me with this team, I feel more comfortable."
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• Nurse on pairing up veteran point guards Kyle Lowry and Reggie Jackson when starter Tyrese Maxey is off the floor, which he has done frequently in recent games:
"It gives them a chance to kind of work together as far as bringing the ball up. Seems like maybe there's one that doesn't maybe get as much pressure... so we can get the ball up and get into our stuff. They're pretty interchangeable. And then it also kind of shifts us into our first time we go to zone, and Kyle is pretty good at playing in the back. Even though he's small, he's good at kind of directing traffic from back there. So, I don't know, I just thought it was a good way of letting them play an extended stint rather than one of them goes in and things don't go well and it turns into a three- or four-minute stint that's not any fun for either one of them. So it's just a chance for them to play a six-, seven-, eight-minute stint together there in the first half and buy us some minutes."
• Nurse, with a smile, on finally playing Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond together -- for all of 67 seconds:
"It just kind of happened, because I think Joel was going in for [Drummond and Drummond] got fouled. I wanted to get Joel in without any more time passing, so I decided to leave [them] in. And then I did kind of want to see it a little bit. Probably could have let it go a little bit longer, to be honest."
• Nurse on what he has liked from Embiid of late -- and one thing we wants to see more of:
"I think the biggest thing that I like is that he's driving the basketball. He's really hard to handle when he's driving the ball, right? He's getting deep in the paint, he's drawing fouls. That's probably the best thing. And he's still -- I don't know how many threes he shot tonight. But again -- he shot three. I'd probably like that to be a little higher. He's such a good three-point shooter. Try to combine the deep drives with a little more threes and a few less mid-rangers."
• George on his ongoing efforts to form a strong two-man game with Embiid and what needs to happen for them to improve:
"Just us getting more reps. I think we've gotten more comfortable with the dialogue and communication between him and I is getting stronger and stronger -- what he sees, what I see. As my rhythm is starting to come back, you know, he knows I'm reliable out there with him. Continue games, continue reps, we'll get better."
• George on whether it is difficult to strike a balance between working to gain trust in those actions and going with what he knows will work when trying to win games:
"Yeah, it's a balance. It was tough trying to figure out how to play my game within the offense, within the team, within the group, continue to be aggressive but figure out how to win games and how to play within the group. So it was a difficult challenge, but a fun one. And I think now I've kind of figured out where I can insert myself and kind of be myself again."
• George on how having Embiid protecting the rim changes his defensive approach:
"I'm going to be aggressive regardless, but obviously, big presence down there. Whether it's Joel or Drummond, you know, both of those guys are a big presence at the rim. So it does allow me to be a little bit more aggressive, but that's how I always play the defensive end is [being] aggressive."
• George on if he feels the Sixers are finally coming together and forming cohesion as a group:
"Yeah. Yeah, yeah... The injuries just haven't been on our side, but I think we're gelling, we're starting to enjoy each other out on the floor. The stuff off the court is starting to trickle on the court, and that's a great sign."
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