Sixers rookie Ricky Council IV happy to get extended run in loss to Pacers

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A lot of things didn’t go right for the Philadelphia 76ers in a 134-122 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night to begin a 5-game road trip. The Sixers were short-handed missing key pieces such as Tobias Harris, De’Anthony Melton, Robert Covington, Marcus Morris Sr., and Mo Bamba. The Sixers had a tough time really finding a rhythm as they shot just 2-for-11 from deep in the first half which led to Indiana jumping out to the big lead. The Pacers led by as many as 27 and the fourth quarter ended up being something of garbage time minutes for both teams. Coach Nick Nurse gave rookies Ricky Council IV and Terquavion Smith an extended look and both of them came alive a bit down the stretch. Council IV had 11 points on 3-for-6 shooting and Smith only had two points, but he did have five assists and three steals. “I was really excited for that opportunity,” Council IV told reporters after the loss. “I knew it was possible because of the way the game was going and I was just ready to go. I was trying to help us come back. Nico (Batum) was telling us a time that he was with the Clippers and the starters were down like 35 and then the bench players came back and brought the lead back and won so I was trying to do that same thing.” The words of Batum gave Council IV something of a spark. He wanted to enter the game and make an impact for a struggling Sixers team on the night as Philadelphia whittled the deficit down to 13 with 4:56 to go before the Pacers pulled away again. “It was really cool,” Council IV added of Batum’s words. “When he said that, I was like ‘Alright, bet’. I looked at Terq and was like ‘It’s that time’, so I was really glad we got more than a minute. We got like eight/nine/10 minutes. So it felt good to get up and down the court. I’m pretty sure that’s the longest I’ve played in my young career.” The Sixers will continue the season-long road trip on Saturday with a visit to the Denver Nuggets. Tyrese Maxey, Sixers discuss what went wrong in road loss to PacersPlayer grades: Joel Embiid, Sixers come up short vs. Pacers to begin tripSixers big man Joel Embiid named a starter for 2024 All-Star game
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Source: https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/2024/01 ... to-pacers/