If the 76ers are thinking that Landry Shamet can be a long-term replacement for J.J. Redick, this game definitely added some legitimacy to that idea. However, it didn’t do anything to help the main issue that’s standing in the way of their plan, which is that Shamet is simply WAY weirder-looking than Redick. By a whole lot. He resembles a grandma.
Right now Shamet’s odd appearance only makes its appearance off the bench. This makes sense; the exact same lineups that are excellent with Redick suddenly become way worse when Shamet is inserted as a replacement. I don’t want to hate or anything, because I know it’s tough for a late first-rounder to match the general savviness of a 500-year old vet with T-Rex arms (the same arms that launch his beautiful threes curse him to a career of defensive inability). He’s similar on the surface, because he does jack a lot of threes in a similar way, but apparently the similarities end when it comes to being an effective part of a playoff team.
But who cares about all that. Redick is dead now, killed because he pissed on the wrong girl, and Shamet has to step up. He HAD to step up tonight against a fearsome ‘Zards squad, and he did. 8 threes, 29 points, that’s basically what Redick would do minus the horrible arm-sleeve tattoos. I was disappointed to not see him get 30; he had basically a whole quarter of garbage time to get one more point, but he eventually got taken out in favor of a fabricated non-existent player named “Haywood Highsmith”. I’ve petitioned the NBA to give Shamet three more points on account of the not-real Highsmith being awarded a three-point field goal.