The Philadelphia 76ers couldn’t pull out a win in Cleveland, but that wasn’t necessarily the most important takeaway.
Saturday night’s loss in Cleveland was tough. The Cavs were without Kevin Love and on the second night of a back-to-back, while the Philadelphia 76ers found themselves without Joel Embiid on the front half of their own back-to-back. That inevitably led to an ugly game of basketball.
Cleveland pulled out a win, but given LeBron James‘ outburst, it’s tough to expect otherwise. Even a short-handed Cavs team has an innate advantage whenever James is on the floor. Ben Simmons threw away seven turnovers as well, which isn’t ideal against elite teams.
But even with LeBron being LeBron and Simmons having an off night, the Sixers were in a position to win that game. Not because of their young stars or brilliant defense, but because of J.J. Redick and Robert Covington.
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Part of the Sixers’ recent struggles can be attributed to Redick and Covington struggling with their shots. After a blistering start to the season, regression to the mean hit both players hard.
In his 10 games prior to the Cavs game, Covington was shooting just 32.1 percent from deep. Not only was that a sharp drop from his early-season numbers, but it also came in sporadic and inconsistent spurts. Redick wasn’t far behind, shooting just 31.4 percent in the six games leading up to Saturday.
Those struggles were put on hold last night, though. Redick and Covington put up 19 points a peice, with 17 of Redick’s points coming in the second half alone. Covington went 5-7 from deep, while Redick went 4-9, with a slower start contributing to his lower percentage.
There’s no guarantee that one strong outing means they’ve regained form, but it’s a promising development when you consider how heavily the Sixers lean on 3-point shooting. They were towards the top of the league in shooting at the beginning of the season, and that was a major reason behind their extended success despite the NBA’s toughest schedule.
Redick was signed to do one thing, and that’s shoot. As one of the most consistent shooters in the league over the past decade, the Sixers were counting on Redick to be one of their most reliable offensive weapons. That hasn’t been the case for the past week or so, so any signs of improvement are big.
Covington had a breakout of sorts to start the season, and he’s still among the league’s best shooters when it comes to threes made this season. Of the top 40 (qualified) players in 3-point shooting percentage this season, only one other player has made more shots from deep than Covington: Klay Thompson.
His volume and efficiency to start the season was insane, and those numbers have still held up well despite his recent slump. If last night means he’s back on track, that’d be a huge boost for a Sixers offense that desperately needs another punch outside of Embiid and Simmons.
In general, the Sixers offense has taken a serious hit without Redick and Covington’s consistency in recent games. The spacing provided by two elite shooters in what made the Simmons and Embiid-headed lineup click, as it opened up more driving lanes for Simmons, more space for Embiid and made everything easier around them.
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Covington and Redick aren’t without their flaws, but having their shots back could work wonders for a Sixers team that’s looking to make a playoff push this season.