The Philadelphia 76ers entered Wed., Mar. 4 having lost seven of their past 11 games. It was a brutal stretch that saw Philadelphia's postseason dreams begin to dwindle, as the Play-In Tournament began to come into focus with a clear dip in form.
One of the driving forces behind the 76ers' woeful play has been the sudden decline to bottom-tier rankings as a three-point shooting team. Thankfully, Philadelphia has begun to right the ship.
Entering Mar. 4, the 76ers had spent the previous 11 games shooting at a level that had them ranked No. 26 in three-point field goals made and three-point field goal percentage. It was a shocking development for a team that ranked No. 14 in efficiency and No. 17 in conversions entering that stretch.
As fate would have it, all the 76ers needed to do to escape their downward spiral was fix their shooting and create an instant sense of stability.
Philadelphia has responded to a stretch of five losses in six games by winning four of their past six. Their three-point shooting has been a strength during several of those wins, to the point that it's even acted as the source of success.
With their three-point shooting no longer a glaring weakness, the 76ers should be able to right the ship and finish the season in the top six of the Eastern Conference standings.
76ers forgot how to shoot, but it seems they're remembering
Philadelphia snapped a four-game losing streak by burying 21 threes and defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves 135-108. It went just 8-of-29 during a 135-114 victory over the Indiana Pacers, but then shot 17-of-43 from beyond the arc in a 124-117 win over the Miami Heat.
Philadelphia's Mar. 4 win over the Utah Jazz saw it shoot just 9-of-35 from beyond the arc, but Tyrese Martin buried a pair of critical threes during the fourth quarter and Jabari Walker caught fire at 4-of-7.
It's still a work in progress, but the 76ers' recent success has uncoincidentally coincided with peaks in performance from beyond the arc. It's far from surprising, as Philadelphia is averaging 13.7 three-point field goals made per game on 36.6 percent shooting during its 34 wins.
By comparison, the 76ers have averaged 11.4 three-point field goals made per game on 35.0 percent shooting across 26 losses.
Moving forward, Philadelphia's cast of quality shooters must rediscover their form to give this team the optimal chance to sustain success. That's proven further by the fact that the 76ers dominate when their offense erupts, with a 25-7 record when they score at least 115 points—and 9-21 when they fail to.
One can only hope that Philadelphia will continue to make progress and reestablish the outside shot as a reliable weapon as the postseason nears.