Welcome Back Bang, Bang Georges Niang: Sixers Sharpshooter Breaks Out Vs. Bucks

Philadelphia 76ers key reserve Georges Niang was mired in a shooting slump heading into Saturday night’s showdown with first-place Milwaukee Bucks. The kind of shooting slump where the bucket looks like it’s the size of a baseball. He exited the night on a heater that played a huge part in the Sixers improbable 18-point comeback victory that snapped the Bucks’s 16-game winning streak and may have helped save the Sixers season from careening out of control.

Geroges Niang had not scored in double figures since February 10, when he posted 13 in a win over the Knicks, prior to last night’s 16-point outburst. In the eight games in between, Niang scored zero points twice, was a “DNP Coaches’ Decision” once, and made more than one three-pointer just once. Last night, Niang connected on five of six from beyond the arc, including four three points in the fourth quarter alone.

As the Sixers started the fourth quarter down 14 points, Niang got the comeback started with back-to-back three-pointers in the first 70 seconds of the period. He added another pair of threes on back-to-back possessions midway through the quarter to tie the game at 108 – the first time since the second quarter that the Sixers weren’t trailing.

Niang coming back to life after a rough shooting slump that started before the All-Star break was huge for the Sixers last night, obviously, but also moving forward. The Sixers’ bench struggles over the entirety of the Embiid era are well documented. The Sixers only chance come playoff time is if the bench can provide somewhat capable scoring in the non-Embiid minutes. Niang is one of the few rotation pieces they have capable of doing just that. But we hadn’t done it in nearly a month.

Between Niang’s 13-point performance against the Knicks on the 10th and last night’s heroics, Niang shot 4 of 21 from downtown (19%). In his last three games, Niang was 0 for 6 from three. It was getting so bad for him that Doc Rivers sat him on the backend of the Sixers home and home with the Heat last Wednesday.

After last night, the Sixers are 20-4 this season when Niang scores in double figures. When Georges is cooking, it usually means the bench is scoring, and the Sixers are cooking as well.

Scoring 16 last night was a great sign for the Sixers come playoff time as well. Niang didn’t just have a great night against some basement-dweller. He did it against the best defensive team in the NBA, the Eastern Conference’s #1 seed, and the NBA’s hottest team. The Sixers will absolutely, positively need performances like this from Niang in April and beyond – depending on how far they advance.

Niang isn’t going to hit on 5 of 6 every night, but the Sixers need him connecting on his triples closer to his 40.7% season average than the 19% he shot over the three weeks in between his games against the Knicks and Bucks. In last year’s playoff loss to the Heat, Niang shot just 16% from three-point range, including an 0-7 performance in the game 1 loss and an 0-6 in the game 5 blowout loss – both games were on the road.

There were a lot of obvious positives from last night’s big road win, but one of the more underrated aspects was Niang busting out of his sleep. Welcome back Bang, Bang Georges Niang.