TORONTO -- Alex Poythress' phone was blowing up as he returned to his dressing room stall at Air Canada Centre on Sunday evening.
The 23-year-old, who was signed by the Sixers earlier in the day, finished with 11 points and three rebounds in 24:13 of action in his NBA debut.
"I'm trying to cut it off. Friends, family texting," Poythress said with a laugh. "Actually, my granny just called me so I gotta call her back."
Despite the 113-105 loss to the Raptors (see Instant Replay), the Savannah, Georgia, native, made quite the first impression on coach Brett Brown.
"I loved him. He had a bounce, he had a toughness -- when you talk about those three cornerstones of the program: can you run, can you shoot threes, can you guard? I think he checks boxes," Brown said. "How well? We'll learn more about [him], but on first observation, looking at him come on the floor -- and it wasn't like he played four minutes, he played 24 minutes -- it was enough body of work for me to say he had a tremendous bounce and certainly took advantage of his first time in a 76ers uniform."
Poythress checked into the game off the bench with 4:28 to play in the first quarter and made his presence felt immediately, picking up a feed from teammate Nik Stauskas and throwing down a one-handed jam.
NBA
"Alex had a great game, he started off with that dunk and he was aggressive all game," said Stauskas, who finished with 14 points and five assists off the bench. "He's not shy, he took his opportunities when they were there and that's really all we could ask from him."
The 6-foot-7, 238-pound forward started 45 games for the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA’s D-League this season, averaging 19 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Poythress shot 57 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc and was a 2017 NBA D-League All-Star participant.
The University of Kentucky product signed a minimum-salary contract with the Indiana Pacers last summer but was released in October.
Considering his whirlwind 24-hours leading into Sunday’s game (see story), Poythress was happy with his debut.
"I was real excited to get out there and try to take advantage of the opportunity I got," said Poythress, who was at shootaround with Ft. Wayne on Saturday when he got word of the Sixers' interest. "I felt like I was in a rhythm, playing in the flow of the game.
"[Brown] was emphasizing on just fighting til the end, spacing the floor out and just keep on defending."
Poythress was at Air Canada Centre early Sunday morning going over things with the Sixers' coaching staff -- the diligence helped him form early chemistry with teammates on Sunday night.
"I went over the plays this morning. I came over here early, they walked through with me on the practice court the plays, so I had the basics down," he said. "Sometimes I was a little confused, but that's going to be a given. For the most part, I felt like I knew what I was doing out there."
Saric limited
Dario Saric finished with 16 points and three rebounds in Sunday's loss. The Sixers guard was limited to 24 minutes going into the game due to left heel soreness.
Saric, who is averaging 12.9 points and 6.4 rebounds in 76 games this season, pushed for more minutes but was told to rest.
"I feel really, really good, especially yesterday and today, I really worked on my heel," Saric said. "I tried to protect it in different kinds of ways. I felt good. At one point, I say, 'Can I play a little bit more, I feel like I can and they said, 'No, we need to listen to the doctors'. It's OK, they try to protect me. I felt very well.
"After the game started, I felt more comfortable."
The Sixers now return home to open a four-game home stand against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.