Philadelphia 76ers: James Ennis’ impact cannot be understated

After being limited in the first two games of the Philadelphia 76ers’ series against the Brooklyn Nets, James Ennis made his presence known in their 131-115 Game 3 win.

For the second straight game, the Philadelphia 76ers, led by their star point guard Ben Simmons, put away the Brooklyn Nets in impressive fashion.

But this wasn’t your typical Sixers win.

No, after scoring 45 points in 45 minutes over the team’s first two postseason contests, Joel Embiid sat out the Thursday night showdown in Brooklyn, leaving Greg Monroe to fill his expansive Under Armor shoes.

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The results? An easy, breezy, bench-clearing 131-115 point win.

Now, many will (justifiably) point to Simmons as the reason the 76ers came out on top, but one under the radar player who was indispensable in the win was reserve wingman James Ennis.

In his second game back following an April 3rd quad injury, Ennis racked up four points, six rebounds, and a steal in 19 minutes of action. On paper, those aren’t incredible numbers, especially when you consider that three of the Sixers starting five scored 26 or more points, but Ennis’ energy, effort, and defensive switchability was an asset that the 76ers sorely missed in Game 1.

As one of the few sub-6-foot-8 players to earn more than a handful of minutes in Game 3, Ennis was often tasked with holding his own against more athletically gifted guards like Carvis LeVert, D’Angelo Russell, and Spencer Dinwiddie. Ennis is a wily vet, but he’s not exactly an athletic freak of nature, making his performance all the more impressive.

Furthermore, with T.J. McConnell out of the Sixers’ rotation as of late due to the size of the Nets backcourt, outside of 6-foot-1 Shabazz Napier, Ennis has been tasked with playing a more expansive role than he would typically be on the defensive end of the court; covering a point guard on one drive, and a power forward on the next.

Jonathon Simmons, McConnell, and even everyone’s favorite high-flying rookie guard Zhaire Smith do not have that kind of switchability, even if they are potentially better at guarding one, or even two positions than Ennis one-on-one.

And the best part? Ennis is still getting back to 100 percent.

After playing only 12 minutes in Game 2, and looking alright on the court, Ennis stepped his game up in Game 3 and crashed the glass with the ferocity of a player five years his junior. With another day to get his legs under him, it’s conceivable that Ennis could play even better in Game 4, and provide a flexible foil for Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, and even J.J. Redick when one of the team’s starting five wingers need a break for a few minutes on the bench.

Will he ever play 24 minutes a game this series. For the sake of health, I hope the answer is no, as that would spell disaster for one of the team’s starters, but in about 20 minutes of action, James Ennis has become a vital cog for the Philadelphia 76ers playoff bench in a way that few expected when Elton Brand traded a far off future second-round pick to acquire him at the trade deadline.