When Ersan Ilyasova is your #1 offensive option, you know things aren’t going to go super well. Not dissing the Ersanator here, just pointing out that he is more of complementary piece than a focal point. Without Jahlil Okafor or Joel Embiid (or even Robert Covington) to soak up all the possessions, the 76ers had to go for something different, and it just so happened that Ersan was next in line to shoot the shots.
23 points is pretty good for him. Great, even. Add in the 17 rebounds, and I’m getting flashbacks from that 20-20 game he put together once upon a time. 4 assists? A steal? 2 blocks? That’s like Giannis-esque right there. You heard correctly: Ersan Ilyasova had a Giannis-esque performance. Except, instead of dunking it all the time he shot a bunch of threes. So really it was just the statline that was Giannis-esque. Not the actual performance itself.