The Ish Smith show continued Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
In his first game in Philadelphia since being reacquired from the New Orleans Pelicans, Smith had 21 points and 11 assists, both game-highs, in the Sixers' 109-99 victory Monday over the Minnesota Timberwolves (see Instant Replay). In six games in his second stint with the Sixers, Smith has been the driving force behind their 3-3 record since Dec. 26.
Smith appeared in 25 games for the 76ers last season. They did not re-sign him in the offseason and swapped a pair of future second-round picks to bring him back for another go-around. He has quickly settled into the starting point guard role.
“I think we have such a young team that his personality pairs up with their youthful spirit a lot,” head coach Brett Brown said. “He can get those guys wound up, and they follow his charisma.”
Smith has used his fast-paced style to mesh with his new teammates. He pushes the ball up the court and gives them an option to get out in transition. Smith is thriving on having players who can run alongside him to get easy points at the basket. The Sixers scored 22 fast-break points on Monday.
Smith has dished 10 or more assists in three of his last five games. He led the Sixers to a season-high 31 dimes against the Timberwolves.
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“[The youthfulness helps with] the lobs, throw-aheads. I think that’s probably as simple as it can be,” Smith said. “We’re athletic and we’re young. We play with great pace. I think the key is defensively. When we get stops like we did and we’re flying around, we’re blocking shots, then we’re able to get out and run and then we can use our speed and our athletic ability on both ends.”
When it came to his own scoring, Smith had struggled offensively in the last two games of the team’s West Coast road trip, shooting a combined 5 for 28 from the field against the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers. Against the Timberwolves, however, Smith went 9 for 16 from the field.
Smith credits his teammates for creating other scoring options, which allows him to avoid a double-team and get open.
“We have a lot of talented guys,” he said. “That’s the beauty of this team — I don’t have to do everything.”
Brown feels the same way. After bouncing from point guard to point guard this season, Smith gives Brown a reliable floor leader who can handle the ball with the pace at which they want to play.
“It allows me to coach less, which is good. I mean it,” Brown said. “There’s nothing worse than sitting on the sideline feeling like you’ve got to run the whole game, calling the play every single [time] — that’s not how I see the game. So when you’re playing with that pace, as long as you feel like you’ve got the right people on the floor and the spacing is the way that you want, then you let the game flow. I feel like he brings that to me, for me.”