SAN ANTONIO — Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot’s first NBA start on Wednesday was a primer for what’s to come on Thursday if Robert Covington is unable to play.
Covington, the Sixers’ starting small forward, sat out with a right hand contusion. Luwawu-Cabarrot, a rookie who had played sparingly up until a month ago, was bumped into the starting lineup against the Mavericks.
Brett Brown had been impressed by what he had seen recently from Luwawu-Cabarrot as he logged more minutes in the Sixers’ narrowed-down rotations.
“The body of work that he’s shown, albeit it at a really young age, makes us feel that there’s a good, promising prospect there,” Brown said before the game at shootaround. “I think opportunities like this, it’s my responsibility to develop him, give him a stage he hasn’t seen or played under in his sort of limited NBA career. I think how he responds will be another layer of learning about Timmy. I think he’s earned that.”
Luwawu-Cabarrot wanted to bring energy and defense to the floor while limiting his turnovers. Even though he has been a starter in his professional career in Europe, doing so in a new league was different. There was an adjustment period for him to get settled into the flow of the action.
Luwawu-Cabarrot played 23 minutes Wednesday with seven points, four rebounds, two assists, five fouls and two turnovers in the Sixers' 113-95 loss.
“I thought he struggled at the start, had multiple turnovers,” Brown said. “It’s part of the youth, it’s part of the growing pain that you’re going to go through. I think these types of games are necessary to get where we want to bring him. I thought he struggled at the start of the game. Trying to get into the flow of an NBA game from the beginning is difficult, let alone for a young kid. I think that he will gain tremendously from that experience.”
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Luwawu-Cabarrot could get a second start should Covington sit out again tonight. Brown described Covington’s availability as “fluid.” The team planned to reevaluate his hand on game day. If Luwawu-Cabarrot does get the nod, he’s prepared to improve on Wednesday’s performance.
“(Starting is the) same plays, same players, same teammates,” he said. “I’ve just got to figure out how to do it better.”
The Sixers struggled to guard the Mavericks' offense on the perimeter (among other areas of the game). Brown referred to Covington’s defensive absence in as “a massive loss.” That area will be a point of emphasis against the Spurs. Kawhi Leonard is averaging 25.6 points per game and is in the midst of a hot stretch, averaging 32.6 points over the Spurs' last 10 contests.
“You’re going to try to figure out who’s got Kawhi,” Brown said. “Normally [Covington] is a part of that conversation.”
Starting for the first two times in consecutive games would be challenging enough for Luwawu-Cabarrot. Doing it with Leonard on the court for the second-best team in the NBA would be another obstacle in itself. It's all part of growing in the league.
"I think Timmy can reap the benefit of not having Robert just because he’s on the court longer and in starting experience," Brown said. "I think it’s still part of who we are, trying to identify some talent, experiment with some stuff and develop our young guys under the roof of trying to find some wins."