Monday night’s 111-106 win over San Antonio was one of the wilder Philadelphia 76ers games in recent memory. The first half saw Andre Drummond un-ejected and then later Joel Embiid ejected. The game came down to the wire and we received a superstar moment from Tyrese Maxey, who finished two assists shy of a triple-double and made multiple huge plays in the final minute.
While the officiating and Maxey’s performance were the main headliners, the Sixers wouldn’t have earned their 10th win of the season without key contributions from the supporting cast, including Caleb Martin. The 29-year-old forward was celebrated as a savvy free agency signing during the offseason, but had became something of an afterthought due primarily to right shoulder impingement that caused pain if he raised his arm past a certain height.
As a result of the injury, Martin recently sat out three games, which fortunately spanned almost two weeks due to gaps created by the NBA cup schedule, before returning Saturday against Cleveland. That period of rest looked to have benefited Caleb on Monday against the Spurs, as he tallied 12 points, five rebounds, one steal, and block, hitting three of his five three-point attempts. The three triples tied his high as a Sixer, a good sign for someone whose percentage has dropped precipitously from his 36.8 percent mark in three seasons in Miami (now up to 30.5 percent this season).
The Sixers don’t need Martin to be some high-volume sniper, just knock down the open shots that should become available with the surrounding talent on this roster. Here we see him nail a corner three, coincidentally off what I would classify as vintage Spurs-ian ball movement.
Martin hit a similar shot earlier in the game, and you can see his shot look more fluid with less of the noticeable hitch that seemed to rise up due to the shoulder injury.
We also witnessed Caleb hammer home a dunk in transition, something he probably wouldn’t have done if it was still causing him pain to lift that right arm up. His post-dunk roar to the crowd was likely a result of the intense vibes of the game from the ejection (and non-ejection), but I like to think it was also partially catharsis at his body feeling closer to how he wants it to on the court.
After the game, head coach Nick Nurse touched on everything around Martin — the health, the three-point shooting, etc.:
“Yes. Again, he hasn’t been feeling great. I think this rest has him a little bouncier; he also had a dunk in transition. He was fighting like heck, too. That was really good to see. I think that was probably his best game of the year. He really looked good at both ends, kind of figured out how to fit in and where to go. It was excellent to see. He’s been working really hard on his shooting mechanics, as you mentioned, so it was good to see it pay off.”
Now, 12 points and five rebounds aren’t going to jump off the stat sheet, but Monday’s performance was exactly what the Sixers had in mind when they signed Martin during the offseason. Hit some open shots, make a few decisive plays with the ball, and play versatile defense. The Sixers are starting to look closer to what we expected entering the season, and while the stars returning to the court is a big reason for that, role players like Martin coming back (and looking healthier) is another key piece to the puzzle.
