Nick Nurse wants to give Paul Reed more minutes; Jaden Springer puts together strong stretch

During the previous three seasons under former coach Doc Rivers, the 76ers utilized players with stature and skill similar to Nicolas Batum as their small-ball center.

New coach Nick Nurse isn’t sure whether he will use the 6-foot-8 forward in that capacity.

“Maybe, maybe,” he said. “I think that Paul [Reed has] played so well that it’s hard to not let him stay out there. In fact, I’ve been trying to keep him out there a little bit longer, figure out a way to keep him out there.”

Reed is averaging 4.1 points and career highs of 4.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 13 minutes as Joel Embiid’s backup center. The 6-9, 210-pounder provides energy off the bench. However, extended minutes have been tough to come by because, on most nights, Embiid plays the entire first and third quarters.

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“Maybe we can do that with two bigs out there,” Nurse said of getting Reed additional minutes. “There may be some other options there, too, with the small-ball five. … But we shall see.”

Nurse said the Sixers are going to eventually play lineups that include Embiid and Reed. He just doesn’t know when. He is a big believer in giving guys longer stints on the floor when they’re playing well.

“Paul Reed is out there and just continues to play hard and effective minutes,” he said. “We need to figure out a way to give him some more.”

Jaden Springer continues to impress teammates.

The Sixers reserve guard finished with a season-high 10 points in Sunday’s 121-99 victory over the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. Springer averaged nine points on 10-for-18 shooting — including going 3-of-7 on three-pointers — in the last three games. The third-year player also tallied three steals and two blocks.

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“He’s playing the game the right way,” Patrick Beverley said. “He’s letting the game come to him. Obviously, his identity in this league is going to be defensively. He’s been doing that, and he’s been energizing offensively for us.”

Before providing a spark off the bench in the last three games, the 21-year-old didn’t play in three of the four preceding contests.

The Sixers headed into Tuesday’s In-Season Tournament game against the Cleveland Cavaliers with the NBA’s third-best scoring offense at 120.5 points per game and are second (to the Celtics) in point differential (+9.0).

But that’s not what stood out the most to Beverley doing this recent stretch.

“Obviously, we are defending at a high level,” he said.

The Sixers were 3-0 when holding opponents to 99 points or less. They were also tied for eighth in blocks (5.8) and 10th in steals (8.2).