Jared McCain called for a Dominick Barlow screen, then created the space to get to his spot and elevate for a mid-range jumper.
The 76ers’ second-year guard has long identified that “bump middie” as one of his favorite types of shots. And that first-quarter bucket ignited McCain’s best performance — in statistical production and in mobility — since returning from a nearly 11-month absence following knee and thumb surgeries. He finished with 15 points and three assists in 26 minutes in the Sixers’ 127-117 loss to the Miami Heat, a needed lift with standout rookie starter VJ Edgecombe sidelined with calf tightness.
It was evidence of the positive steps McCain has taken since going on a G League assignment — and an encouraging longer-term sign for a Sixers team that plans to utilize several guard-heavy lineups this season.
“I felt really good today,” McCain said after the game. “I felt like I got a little burst for my first step. Just continue to build off each game, the more minutes I play.”
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McCain’s week since a two-game stint with the Delaware Blue Coats was a micro journey in itself.
He only played five minutes during last Monday’s home victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Then he finally made his first shot in Wednesday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors, a moment of “pure joy” captured when he threw his arms out and yelled in celebration. He then cleared another medical checkpoint by also playing the second half of a back-to-back the following night at the Milwaukee Bucks, scoring eight points and looking “a little bit more like we needed him to play,” coach Nick Nurse said.
Sunday afternoon, the still-uber-popular McCain was greeted with exuberant cheers upon entering the game late in the first quarter. After his first bucket, he got downhill for a finger-roll layup and flexed after burying a game-tying three-pointer late in the second quarter. A third-quarter deep shot from the top of the key pushed his point total into double figures for the first time this season Another three-pointer got the Sixers within 102-96 early in the final period, before Miami’s final surge.
An acceleration in McCain’s re-acclimation would be a plus for a Sixers team already thriving while playing three-guard lineups.
Tyrese Maxey, Quentin Grimes, and Edgecombe have boasted a 14.6 net rating (and have averaged 121.1 points per 100 possessions) while sharing the floor for 213 minutes in 15 games, often in closing lineups. Before the season, Nurse even floated experimenting with four guards on the floor together. But if Edgecombe’s calf issue lingers, McCain could immediately slide into such personnel combinations.
This long recovery process has taught McCain — who was an early Rookie of the Year front-runner before tearing his meniscus in mid-December — to practice patience and recognize “small wins.” Being able to walk again after surgery. Or play in an NBA game. Or take a hit from a defender, and still step back onto his left foot and fire a shot.
He proclaimed earlier this week that there was “no such thing as garbage time” while regaining comfort on the floor. And even after he missed his first nine shot attempts over four games since debuting Nov. 4 at the Chicago Bulls, he said he did not believe in slumps.
“I put in the work,” McCain said following Sunday’s shootaround, “so I know it’s going to show whenever it needs to.”
Aiding that recent progress has been a switch from a bulky knee brace — “every time I dribbled, it felt like I was about to fall over,” McCain said — to a compression sleeve called Incrediwear. He also said he is unbothered by the brace he continues to wear on his shooting hand, though, “I try not to put any negative energy in the universe talking about the thumb.”
So what are McCain’s next incremental goals?
Defensively, he wants to improve at running full speed to close out on a shooter, then push off his left leg to change direction to cut off another player. Offensively, his first step with the ball in his hands still can get quicker.
And after Sunday’s game, Nurse reemphasized the importance of McCain’s three-point shooting, after he made 38.8% of his 5.8 attempts in 23 games as a rookie and shot 41.4% from long range during his one college season at Duke. That floor-spacing can be particularly valuable when Maxey relentlessly attacks the rim.
“I know I keep saying that,” Nurse said, “but we do need that production from him.”
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As Sunday’s halftime clock ticked down, McCain was one of the first players out of the Sixers’ locker room.
He uses that additional time to get his knee moving again, after sitting during the break. But he also aims to mimic part of the routine of future Hall of Fame sharpshooter Stephen Curry, who said he visualizes shots falling before the third quarter begins.
“I just want to get loose again,” McCain said. “So I try to come out as early as possible and get my reps up, and see the ball go through the net.”
McCain is still not back to the player he was before his surgeries and lengthy absence. But Sunday was his best game since his return, an important step for him and the Sixers.
“I just want him to keep being aggressive and keep being himself,” Maxey said of McCain earlier this week. “ … It’s going to take some time. I think [we need to] just keep pushing confidence into him.
“Just remind him who he is, and remind him what he does.”