Robert Covington is finally back from his slump, playing decently over the past few games.
Welcome back, Robert Covington. The Philadelphia 76ers small forward was seemingly missing since 2016 had started up until recently. Where other guys were finally succeeding like Nik Stauskas, Covington was struggling to score, and shooting very poorly.
This led to a decrease in minutes for Cov, and he was brought down to as little as 6 minutes and 30 seconds in one game. Head coach Brett Brown gave Covington the time to build his confidence back up in practice and slowly during games, and it definitely paid off pretty well.
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In the five games on and following January 2nd, Covington played an average of just 15.7 minutes per game, putting up 4.6 points, 1.2 assists, and 3.4 rebounds. This was a huge slump compared to the rest of his season, where he was playing 27.2 minutes and putting up 11.5 points, 1.7 assists, and 5.8 rebounds.
His shooting is what was truly alarming. In the first part of the season, Covington was shooting 37 percent from the field and 31 percent from beyond the arc. During his slump, he shot 36 percent from the field and 33 percent from beyond the arc. It doesn’t seem like much at all–and in fact, it was actually an improvement statistically–but don’t be deceived. The low minutes meant Covington was making just one 3-pointer per game in those five games, which is not what we were used to from RoCo. Covington has hit as many as six in a single game this season, and was typically good for anywhere between 3-5 3-pointers per game.
Fantasy owners certainly would have been upset with Covington’s production, as he only put up an average of 11.4 Draft Kings points (according to Basketball Reference) compared to his 26.2 point average prior to the slump occurred.
It all looked like it could only get worse as the daunting Chicago Bulls came to town to face off against the Sixers, but Covington and the Sixers were up to the challenge. Without the likes of Pau Gasol or Derrick Rose, the Bulls needed over 50 points from Jimmy Butler to claim the win, and they wouldn’t do so without needing extra minutes, as the game went into overtime. It was a great team effort, and the chemistry was clearly flowing through everyone, including Covington.
RoCo finished that game with 25 points while shooting 50 percent from the field and 60 percent from beyond the arc, hitting six threes that night. He also tacked on 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Covington did all this without even being available for a large chunk of the fourth quarter and overtime due to fouling out of the game. The next game, he scored 16 points in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
His role was made incredibly clear against the New York Knicks on Monday, when he scored 11 points. Covington hit a huge 3-pointer to tie the game at 107 which sent the match into double overtime. Without Covington, it could be argued that the Sixers would not have been able to take the Knicks that far.
Needless to say, the slump can definitely be deemed as over. Since the Bulls game, he has shot 42 percent from the field, and 48 percent from beyond the arc. Not only is he back to his usual form so far, he’s exceeding it, which is incredible. Pair him with the newly-rediscovered sharpshooter in Nik Stauskas (shooting 48 percent from beyond the arc in January) and the Sixers offense may have a completely new–and better–look in the next few weeks.
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Imagine having a few range shooters on the floor at the same time as Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor. This gives both of them the space they need to work in the paint, and couple that with Ish Smith‘s ability to move the ball to any of the four options on the floor, and the Sixers will have some great scoring opportunities, especially against weaker defenses.