Short-handed Sixers are thriving, so what lessons can we take from their recent play?

Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers likes to answer specific questions.

Case in point: When he is asked to pinpoint an aspect of the Sixers’ play that most stands out to him during any stretch of the season, Rivers often tells you he doesn’t know.

With the Sixers at the quarter pole of the NBA season, Rivers was asked that same question by a reporter in Orlando on Sunday. This time, he had a response ready.

“Our resilience,” Rivers said. “When you lose James Harden, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid and you win three out of four, that tells you a team is connected and believes it can be a really good team.”

That sums up the feel-good state of the Sixers. Without their three best players this past week, the Sixers took three out of four games. The lone defeat, in Charlotte on Wednesday, came at a massive rest disadvantage and reasonably could be termed “a schedule loss.” To finish the week, the Sixers blew out Orlando by 30 points and shot 64.9 percent from the field. That is their highest field-goal percentage in any game since 1986 when teams were taking five 3-point attempts per game on average and not the 27 the Sixers hoisted Sunday.

The resilience aspect that Rivers mentioned is real. Even if the competition wasn’t great (even on the road, it wasn’t) and opponents continue to brick 3s at an unsustainably high rate, the short-handed Sixers outplayed their opponents the entire week. It was a remarkable thing to watch. The reasonable goal in such a situation is to mitigate the damage, and instead, the Sixers role players performed like stars and collected victories. For a team that has its sights set on one of the Eastern Conference’s top seeds, banking these types of short-handed wins is a massive boost.

Rivers tends to do his best work when the Sixers are short-handed. That was the case last season, and yet again the veteran head coach has overseen an unexpectedly strong stretch of basketball. The team got contributions up and down the lineup as well.

What else did we learn about the Sixers this week?

Georges Niang has been more than a shooter

“Bang, bang, Georges Niang!” is the call from NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Kate Scott whenever Niang knocks down a 3-pointer. Scott has said that early and often this season, with Niang shooting 44.9 percent from beyond the arc on 9.8 attempts per 36 minutes.

That is the deadly combination of both volume and accuracy from Niang, who is the first person to tell you he’s on this team to space the floor and make 3s. But Niang, someone who had the offense largely run through him at Iowa State, is more well-rounded than your run-of-the-mill shooting specialist. He is shooting 56 percent on 2-pointers thus far.

Niang’s nickname is “Minivan,” so he’s rarely blowing by defenders or playing above the rim. But he understands driving angles, utilizes his strength in seeking out contact and is a crafty finisher. One way you will see Niang put the ball on the floor happens on slot drives when his defender is too focused on the ballhandler at the top of the key.

Whether that is Embiid or Shake Milton, Niang can keep defenses honest if defenses shrink the floor to that extent. And he also provides some trash-talking on the side.

Paul Reed is learning patience on offense

There is no question Reed provides more on the defensive end than Montrezl Harrell. Although Harrell also contributed on the trip, Reed’s defensive playmaking should in theory give him the edge over Harrell in the backup center competition once Embiid returns. But the key for him is on offense.

Reed needs to be an adequate playmaker. He doesn’t have to be Nikola Jokić; he just needs to keep the ball moving to the next station. On the set play below, the ball is supposed to go to Furkan Korkmaz on the dribble handoff before Reed sets a down screen for Niang. How do I know that? Look at Rivers’ and Korkmaz’s reactions when Reed doesn’t do that.

Rivers called a timeout in frustration shortly after that pick-six. But then a funny thing happened, as the Sixers went on a 42-17 run until Reed next subbed out.

Reed had 18 points and five assists over the weekend. Some of the plays were flashy like bullet passes to Niang and Tobias Harris directly after rebounds or a monster dunk over Bol Bol. But it’s plays like the one below, where Reed stays under control and calmly finishes, that he’s starting to make more routine.

The lesson here is that Rivers will need to live with the occasional ballhandling miscues because of the third-year big man’s defensive acumen and the methodical progress he’s making on offense. And to his credit, he has over the past few weeks. Reed played 15 straight minutes on Sunday.

De’Anthony Melton has been ‘Mr. Do Something’

The Sixers currently are the third-ranked defense in the NBA. Three-point shooting luck aside, the defensive connectivity and execution were excellent throughout the week. And in the starting lineup, P.J. Tucker (still not scoring but contributing to winning) and Melton have particularly stood out.

Melton has 14 steals over the past four games, and he gets them in different ways. He baits the skip pass to the opposite corner and intercepts it.

Melton strips opposing ballhandlers clean. And he makes plays between those two extremes, like when he shrinks the floor and baits Terrence Ross into the turnover below.

Danuel House Jr. finishes a big dunk on the other end. For a team lacking star creators, Melton’s defense has led to valuable cheap points.

Shake Milton has earned a rotation spot

For the Sixers, there were positive contributions from many places this past week. Harris has been a rock, even while dealing with nagging injuries. House and Korkmaz are starting to contribute as well, showcasing the depth that the Sixers believed they had coming into the season.

But if there was one breakout star from the past seven days, it was Milton. As was written last week, his ability to not only take on more usage but improve on it is rare for an 11th man. His averages over the past four games: 22.8 points (59-50-94 shooting), 7.8 assists to 2.5 turnovers, 6.8 rebounds.

Since Milton has been playing excellent basketball for longer than four games, he should not be the 11th man anymore. At least, not unless he plays his way out of it over a sustained period.

In some ways, Milton will be the bellwether for the most interesting basketball question the Sixers have faced all season: What will the offense look like when Embiid, Harden and Maxey all come back? No, Milton or Harris should not have the ball in their hands as much as we saw this past week, but there is a happy medium. Will the ball movement be improved from earlier in the season? The Sixers have role players capable of making the occasional play when they’re given an advantage. Limiting these players to strictly 3-and-D roles feels like a waste.

There are two ways a team can be difficult to guard. It can have overwhelming offensive talent or a style of play that puts pressure on the defense. The Sixers have the former, but it will be up to Rivers and the star players to figure out the latter.

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(Photo of Tobias Harris and Paul Reed: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)