Nick Nurse Impressed by Sixers 'Tough' Second Unit

Sixers coach praises the physical play of bench unit

Following the James Harden trade, the Philadelphia 76ers find themselves in a rare situation. On any given night, they have roughly 10 or 11 players who are capable of providing solid minutes. 

Working out the rotation might be tough for head coach Nick Nurse, but it is a good problem to have. This abundance of choices gives him optionality on a night-to-night basis. 

Now that they've had over a week to get acclimated, some of the new additions are starting to see consistent minutes. Coming off a stellar performance in his debut, Nic Batum followed it up by scoring five points and grabbing four rebounds in a nail-biting win over the Boston Celtics. 

Robert Covington is another new face that Nurse continues to roll with off the bench. He also tallied five points and had two steals in his 15 minutes of action on Wednesday night. 

After the win, Nurse was asked his thoughts on the play of his second unit thus far. He feels they are a tough group that excels in their role of providing physical play on both ends when the stars come off the floor. 

"Guys like Pat [Beverley], [Robert] Cov[ington], and Paul [Reed], couple others, they're going in there to give you some rough, tough, and hard play," Nurse said. "That's their role and they really excel at it." 

This aggressiveness and physicality was needed against a team like the Celtics. Without it, they might not have been able to contain Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown enough to seal a victory. 

With a player like Pat Beverley leading the charge for the second unit, it's no surprise they've morphed into a tough bunch. Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey have gotten a lot of the focus, but the second unit continues to prove just how deep this new-look squad is.