Can Markelle Fultz be the Philadelphia 76ers’ X-factor in the playoffs?

After missing 68 games with a mysterious shoulder ailment, Philadelphia 76ers guard Markelle Fultz unexpectedly made his long-awaited return Monday night against the Denver Nuggets. The early results from the 2017 No. 1 overall pick sent fans at the Wells Fargo Center into a semi-permanent state of delirium.

With the playoffs rapidly approaching and the Sixers in hot pursuit of a top-four seed, can Fultz be a difference-maker down the stretch and in the postseason? It’s folly to draw grand conclusions from a one-game sample size, but the flashes he showed Monday suggest he could at least carve out a helpful role in the second unit.

Whereas Fultz displayed wonky mechanics and a hesitance to shoot open jumpers back before the Sixers shut him down in October, that was nowhere to be found against the Nuggets.

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His first possession ended in a turnover as he sought to blow past Mason Plumlee en route to the hoop, but that didn’t deter his aggressiveness moving forward. Less than a minute later, he ran a simple dribble hand-off with Joel Embiid that allowed him to scoot past Devin Harris and glide in for his first basket since October.

As the quarter wound down, Fultz again attempted to barrel his way to the basket with a spin move, but once he realized Harris and Plumlee had positioning on him, he passed it up to Ersan Ilyasova for a wide-open 14-foot jump shot. On the Sixers’ next trip down the floor, Fultz attempted his first step-back jumper of the night, but Plumlee contested it well, resulting in an air ball.

Fultz finished his first five-minute stint with two points on 1-of-4 shooting, three assists, one rebound and one turnover, just enough to whet the appetite of Sixers fans desperate to see progress from the No. 1 overall pick. When he returned to the floor late in the third quarter, he looked even more like the player who dominated during his lone season at the University of Washington.

A pair of layups from Fultz helped the Sixers turn a three-point lead into a double-digit advantage by the end of the third quarter. On the first, he demonstrated the ability to change speeds and accelerate to the basket before Denver’s half-court defense could get set.

He also chipped in on defense, swooping in from behind to help reject a Jamal Murray layup attempt early in the fourth quarter.

By the time Fultz checked out with nine minutes remaining in the game, he had racked up four more points, three more assists and the aforementioned block, while Philly’s lead had ballooned to 15 points.

“I got even more comfortable,” Fultz told reporters afterward in reference to his second stint. “I think the first time, I was just trying to make sure I did what I had to do. And then the second time, I started getting my groove back more and more, just like anybody that goes out on the court. First time, you’re a little—got to get warmed up. And then the second time, you’re good.”

Fultz’s night appeared to be over at that point, but with the Sixers holding a 20-point lead with three minutes remaining, the fans began calling for an encore from their star rookie. Philly head coach Brett Brown obliged them, subbing him back in for Rookie of the Year front-runner Ben Simmons with 2:42 left.

In those waning moments, Fultz answered the biggest question anyone had about him coming into the game: whether the form on his jump shot was still busted.

When Plumlee switched onto him, Fultz shimmied his way to the free-throw line and pulled up for a 14-foot jumper. A friendly bounce helped the shot find its way home.

A minute later, he again roasted Plumlee with a 20-foot hesi pull-up jimbo, similar to the one that caught Kevin Durant’s attention during summer league. This time, it found nothing but net.

After the game, Brown was exuberant while discussing his rookie point guard.

“It didn’t look like he was hesitant. He got up 13 shots in, you know, 14 minutes,” he told reporters, tongue firmly in cheek. “I told him our strength people must have done a great job, because you sure looked strong in relation to your confident shooting.”

Prior to Monday’s game, neither Brown nor general manager Bryan Colangelo were sure of how Fultz would fare in his return. The latter attempted to lower expectations when he told reporters, “What to expect in an NBA game… it’s hard to say. We’re not judging him based on what happens tonight.”

Brown, meanwhile, could hardly contain his excitement before the game.

“We have 10 games before the playoffs, [and] I’ve said for a long time, the risk/reward, I’m going to lean on reward,” he told reporters before tipoff. “He’s different than anything that we have, and most importantly for his sake, he’s put in a lot of work. I’m thrilled to be able to offer him the opportunity to come join his teammates at this exciting time of the year.”

Neither Brown nor Colangelo would commit to Fultz becoming a regular part of the rotation once the playoffs roll around, but if he continues to play like he did Monday, he could well carve out a limited role. Barring injury, the Sixers won’t shake up their starting five until next season at the earliest, but Fultz could help prop up their once-anemic bench.

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Prior to the All-Star break—and the additions of Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova on the buyout market—Philly’s bench ranked 26th in terms of points per game (27.3) and touted a bottom-10 net rating (minus-3.2). Belinelli and Ilyasova have provided more of a scoring punch in the second unit, but the reserves still tend to struggle with shot creation whenever Simmons is catching a breather.

More than anything, that’s where Fultz can help in the coming weeks.

Even if his jumper remains inconsistent and he continues to adjust to the speed of the NBA, Fultz’s ability to drive to the basket and then kick the ball to open shooters should help Philly’s bench stave off lengthy scoring droughts. Combine that with a starting unit that touts a net rating of plus-21.1 in nearly 600 minutes this season, and the Sixers are quickly morphing into the first-round matchup no Eastern Conference team will want to draw.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com or Basketball-Reference.com.