Adem Bona filled up the stat sheet on career night vs. Jazz — but his growth is about more than numbers

The 76ers got the good version of Adem Bona on Sunday night.

The rookie reserve center was bouncy while constantly running the floor against the Utah Jazz. And he settled into the game from the start.

“Every now and then, it seems to get going a little too fast for him,” coach Nick Nurse said. “But he just tracked the ball all night, I thought. He was blocking his own guy’s shot. He was helping his teammates as well. He was a threat on the glass, offensive glass. I don’t know how many offensive rebounds he had.”

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Bona finished with career highs across the board, producing 14 points, 14 rebounds, five blocks, and two steals in the Sixers’ 126-122 victory over the tanking Jazz at the Wells Fargo Center.

This was also his first career double-double, on a night he pulled down seven offensive rebounds and logged a career-high 31 minutes, 40 seconds.

“He was really putting pressure on them at the rim,” Nurse added. “He got a couple [of] key putbacks, I thought, as well. So, I just loved the rim protection. It seemed like it was more than five blocks to me, it seemed like he had about eight or nine. He kept knocking them out of there, which was great.”

In a game mostly minus starter-level players, Bona produced much more than his season averages of 3.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 0.8 block, and 0.3 steal in 11.5 minutes.

So what was the 6-foot-8, 235-pounder the most proud of?

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“To be honest, everything,” said Bona, a second-round draft pick. “Obviously, I’m proud of my rebounding. That’s where I should be hanging my hat. Rebounding is big for somebody like me; I have to be able to get rebounds. Also, offensive rebounding is big to my game because of my speed, like swimming around the other players to try and get offensive rebounds. I’m most proud of my offensive rebounding today.”

Bona was equally proud of his ability to command the defense. He kept calling out “weak” and “strong” as the anchor of the Sixers’ defense.

While this game had the feel of an exhibition, the growth the 21-year-old has shown from summer league to now was on full display. In July, Bona was an athletic shot blocker, but he was also a foul waiting to happen.

Now, the former UCLA standout makes better decisions and is more authoritative while still showcasing athleticism.

“I would think one is communication,” Bona said of his biggest growth. “Understanding the NBA terms, communicating what is called, and how to guard the pick-and-roll. I played the pick-and-roll completely different in college. Coming into the NBA and trying to adapt to that, that’s pretty big for me.”

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And he obviously has been working on reducing his fouls. The Nigerian-born player had two against the Jazz (15-49) and averaged one in his last four appearances after having nine total in two games against the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks.

“I feel like I did pretty well,” he said of that area. “I got one bad one today, but I think reducing the foul and fouling is a big improvement.”

Those improvements helped the Sixers (22-41) post a victory for just the third time in 17 games and take some momentum into Monday’s contest against the Atlanta Hawks (30-34) at State Farm Arena.