Philadelphia 76ers: 3 point shooting can take Philly far this season
The Philadelphia 76ers shot extremely well against the Milwaukee Bucks on Christmas and if they keep shooting like that, they can go far.
The Philadelphia 76ers shot the lights out on Christmas against the Milwaukee Bucks. They made 21 3 pointers which tied a franchise record for most threes made in a game.
The knock on this team was the fact that they didn’t have enough 3 point shooting to be able to go far in the playoffs. If they are able to make their threes as they did against the Bucks, then they will be unbeatable.
The Bucks are probably the best team in the league with the best player in the Eastern Conference in Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Sixers were able to beat them easily.
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When you are trying to decide if this team is a contender or not, you have to look at the fact that they have beaten the best teams in the league. On that list are the Bucks, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, and Denver Nuggets which are all high seeded teams as of right now.
Elton Brand has said that this team is a work in progress, and they certainly have room for improvement because of so many new pieces, but the Christmas game, along with the other wins, proves this team is a good team right now.
The Sixers were exposed a little bit last week when the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat went to the 2-3 zone and were able to stifle them. One of the ways to beat the zone is to be able to shoot the ball effectively.
The Sixers will not always make shots like they did against the Bucks, but what they can do is use what they learned from this game in the future when teams try to stop them with the zone.
What it does is that it stops driving lanes, and the Sixers love to drive. When they penetrate, that opens up their offense. They can kick out for open shots and put pressure on the defense. When everybody is looking at the ball, it is hard for them to create that pressure.
This team is missing J.J. Redick. He was big for them last year because he was a big-time threat to shoot the three. He could break open games with his shooting. Last Year, Redick made 240 3s, which was good for seventh in the league.
Teams would never think of playing the zone against last year’s team because they had a top ten 3 point shooter on their team.
This year, the Sixers do not have a player in the top-50 in 3 pointers made, which is an issue. This team will have to rely on streaky shooting to get by. Looking at getting a shooter during the trade deadline is not out of the question.
Presently the Sixers have Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle, James Ennis, Al Horford, Furkan Korkmaz, and Mike Scott, who can hit the three for the club.
Though that is true, the only one that is shooting higher than 40 percent is Thybulle, and he is out right now. They will have to look in the mirror and ask themselves if this team can go far with the shooting they have now.
Next. Tobias Harris is obviously the Sixers’ third-best player. dark
In the playoffs, they will need players to hit their shots, or they will never stop seeing the zone. Maybe they have caught fire, but they will need to shoot the three better consistently to go far in the postseason.