The 76ers surely sent a strong statement to the rest of the league after beating the Knicks on the road on opening night. They played far from perfect basketball, but they still managed to pull the right stops to notch their first win of the season. However, in tallying that big dub, they might have actually exposed themselves to a major problem that could haunt them come playoff time –– their putrid three-point shooting.
Philadelphia shot just 27.5 percent from beyond the arc against New York, only draining 11 of their 40 three-point tries. Playing a short rotation due to their revolving door of injuries, the team had a tough time looking for players who had it going from the three-point line. That being said, their team-wide, shooting remained a noticeable issue, and one cannot just toss this up to rust as it was the case all preseason long.
76ers are still struggling to hit shots consistently from beyond the arc
Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, Anfernee Simons, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit at least two triples each for the 76ers, but none of them shot especially well from downtown. Meanwhile, LeBron James and VJ Edgecombe missed all of their three-point tries.
The 76ers brought in a lot of big names this offseason, but aside from Simons, the front office did not really bring in someone who can be tabbed as a reliable high-volume shooter. Dean Wade and KCP are not exactly high-volume shooters anyway, whereas Brown and James have always been shaky operators from beyond the arc.
It is undoubtedly a good sign that the team was still able to find a way to win a game against elite competition despite a bad shooting night, but that is not a sustainable winning formula. If their three-point shooting persists as a problem, teams will become eager to pack the paint instead and force the 76ers' average to hoist up lots of long-range bombs.
A major part of the solution to this problem is already inherent in the players, so the hope is that their perimeter players can improve as the year goes on with more reps. After all, the 76ers are making a concerted effort to up their three-point volume. If that does not work, the front office should tap external help and bring in some low-cost players who can help smooth out the offense with their shooting.
The 76ers must fix their three-point shooting problem as soon as possible. That is a non-negotiable. It does not matter how they plan to go around it. As long as this issue persists, Philly will remain clunky on the offensive end and easier to defend than what their overwhelming star power suggests.
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