Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse addressed key adjustments after Friday’s 115-103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Xfinity Mobile Arena. “I think we just started playing a little smarter offensively,” Nurse said, highlighting the team’s second-half execution. “We did an excellent job of doing almost everything we wanted to in the second half offensively and the defense stayed just about the same.”
Nurse praised his team’s defensive work on Anthony Edwards, who struggled with eight points on 3-of-15 shooting. “We did a good job on him and worked pretty hard, but he didn’t look quite right to me,” he said. “We had some guys guard him and sent some bodies at him.”
The 76ers experimented with a Drummond-Embiid frontcourt combination. Nurse explained the decision: “I had an idea of doing it tonight because they usually have a couple bigs on there. It presented itself when Drummond was waiting to go in and Joel hit a couple back-to-back shots, so I decided to flip that.” He noted the pairing provided extra help on the defensive glass. “Drumm just gave him enough help there for a stretch. He cleaned up some rebounding, got his hands in on screen-and-rolls, and has good hands.”
Nurse also discussed Paul George’s impact on the offense. “Paul’s shot making’s been so good that teams are pressing up on him,” he said. “They’re really getting into him and almost forcing him inside the line, and he’s been able to take it down there. He’s drawing fouls, which adds up for everybody else.”
The coach emphasized the recent contributions of Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. despite lower touch numbers. “Tyrese and Joel both ran the entire third. Paul kind of got Kelly going. He turned the corner, kicked it out to Kelly, and he drained that one in the corner. Then Kelly took off from there,” Nurse said.
Adjustments in defensive schemes also factored into the win. “Midway through the third quarter, we switched from drop to more ahead, and our guys did a really good job. We switched a couple when it was an emergency and ended up okay on the back side,” he explained. Nurse pointed to multiple steals that led to transition points as pivotal.
On building lineups around Embiid, Maxey, George, and VJ Edgecombe, Nurse said, “Maybe it goes night to night a little bit. If Joel and Tyrese are both out, it’s going to have to be a more collective offense. But tonight, it worked because VJ, Q, Kelly—they all got going.”
Nurse also highlighted Dominick Barlow’s defensive presence. “When he’s alongside Joel, you notice him a lot more. He’s crashing, getting his hands on everything, playing good defense, and rarely makes mistakes offensively. That’s just a good, solid night for him.”
With the win, Philadelphia remains sixth in the Eastern Conference. Joel Embiid returned with 19 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists, while George added 23 points and Maxey and Oubre each scored 21. Minnesota was led by Julius Randle and Bones Hyland with 21 points apiece.
