The Philadelphia 76ers were in a tough position on Thursday night when they only had one true center in their roster after the swap they’d made to take over George Hill earlier in the day.
The team shipped Tony Bradley and Vincent Poirier in the deal that, coupled with Joel Embiid’s injury, left the Sixers with only Dwight Howard to man the center. It was a difficult situation to begin with, but when the game started it got worse.
Howard got into a pushing match with Los Angeles Lakers big man Montrezl Harrell and the two went back and forth throughout the first quarter and Howard picked up a lead tech in the quarter. Howard then bumped into Harrell during the quarter break, and he was then sent off with a second technical ball that left the Sixers with no real centers for the rest of the game.
“I just thought it was very selfish play,” said coach Doc Rivers. ‘You have a tech. You can’t get another. We just need better discipline. “
Dwight Howard has just been sent off because of this …
What on Earth?!?! pic.twitter.com/2EA90dBkDG
– Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) March 26, 2021
It caused the Sixers to roll with Mike Scott and rookie Paul Reed to man the center position for the rest of the night, which made it difficult for both of them.
“I know there’s a lot of emotion, but we had one center on our team and he got kicked out,” said Rivers. “I was not very happy with that. I know it’s an emotional game, but he’s a veteran. We must have better discipline. “
This post originally appeared on Sixers WireFollow us on Facebook
