Philadelphia 76ers are quietly becoming a good 3-point shooting team
The Philadelphia 76ers had a rough start from the 3-point line this season, but they have been able to hit consistently from deep as of late.
It was hard to watch the Philadelphia 76ers on the offensive end to begin the year. Most of the players were struggling to make 3-pointers on a regular basis. The good news is that they’ve seen steady progress in their 3-point shooting each month so far this season.
In October, the 76ers only shot 31.0 percent on their 3-point attempts. Philly saw their shots from deep fall with more regularity in November as they made 36.3 percent of those types of shots. Thus far in December, the Sixers converted 45.5 percent from the 3-point line.
Currently, the 76ers are seventh in the NBA in 3-point percentage by shooting 36.8 percent from deep. It should be noted that Philly is ranked 21st in 3-point makes and 27th in attempts per game. The Sixers don’t need to shoot too many 3-pointers based on the size advantage they have against almost any team in the NBA, but when they do shoot from deep they make it count.
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The 76ers starters have lead the way in the team’s better 3-point shooting. Ben Simmons is finally shooting 3-pointers this season and has made 50.0 percent of those shots. Al Horford is shooting above his career average from deep and is converting 38.8 percent of his 3-point attempts. Josh Richardson is making 38.6 percent from behind the arc, who’s also averaging above his career shooting percent from downtown.
Tobias Harris is only shooting 31.8 percent from behind the 3-point line, which is well below is career averaged. However, Harris has shown improved 3-point shooting in recent games, so his percentages should improve as the season progresses. Joel Embiid‘s converting 31.3 percent of his shots from downtown, which is around his career average.
Philly’s bench has been on fire from deep as well. Their bench ranks sixth in the NBA in 3-point percent. Furkan Korkmaz has been the team’s go-to floor-spacer this season as he attempts the most 3-point shots per game among all the team’s shooters and is converting those shots at 36.2 percent per game. Below is a chart of how every player is shooting from downtown this season.
| Rk | Age | G | GS | MP | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% ▼ | PF | PTS/G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Simmons | 23 | 22 | 22 | 34.2 | .572 | 0.1 | 0.2 | .500 | 3.3 | 14.3 |
| 2 | Raul Neto | 27 | 21 | 2 | 12.3 | .506 | 0.7 | 1.3 | .500 | 0.6 | 4.5 |
| 3 | Matisse Thybulle | 22 | 23 | 3 | 16.7 | .429 | 1.0 | 2.2 | .440 | 2.3 | 4.7 |
| 4 | James Ennis | 29 | 24 | 0 | 17.5 | .496 | 0.9 | 2.2 | .423 | 1.9 | 7.4 |
| 5 | Al Horford | 33 | 22 | 22 | 30.8 | .490 | 1.5 | 3.9 | .388 | 2.4 | 13.9 |
| 6 | Josh Richardson | 26 | 16 | 16 | 32.0 | .456 | 2.0 | 5.2 | .386 | 2.9 | 16.1 |
| 7 | Kyle O’Quinn | 29 | 14 | 0 | 10.5 | .535 | 0.4 | 0.9 | .385 | 1.6 | 3.8 |
| 8 | Trey Burke | 27 | 9 | 0 | 16.9 | .431 | 0.7 | 1.8 | .375 | 0.8 | 7.1 |
| 9 | Furkan Korkmaz | 22 | 23 | 11 | 22.8 | .423 | 1.7 | 4.6 | .362 | 1.6 | 8.6 |
| 10 | Mike Scott | 31 | 24 | 1 | 18.8 | .432 | 1.1 | 3.3 | .346 | 1.6 | 6.1 |
| 11 | Tobias Harris | 27 | 24 | 24 | 34.2 | .488 | 1.4 | 4.5 | .318 | 2.7 | 19.2 |
| 12 | Joel Embiid | 25 | 19 | 19 | 30.4 | .459 | 1.1 | 3.5 | .313 | 3.5 | 21.9 |
| 13 | Shake Milton | 23 | 9 | 0 | 9.1 | .343 | 0.4 | 2.1 | .211 | 1.4 | 3.9 |
| 14 | Norvel Pelle | 26 | 2 | 0 | 12.5 | .667 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | |
| 15 | Jonah Bolden | 24 | 2 | 0 | 2.5 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/10/2019.
Mike Scott‘s 3-point percent is bound to improve and Shake Milton doesn’t have a consistent role with the team, so his 3-point percentage won’t have a major impact in the grand scheme of things.
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In terms of having good floor-spacers to pair with Simmons and Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers general manager Elton Brand appears to have done a good job in putting a team together that can do that. Hopefully, the Sixers can continue this for the rest of the season and into the playoffs.