The 76ers set a franchise record in a win over the Raptors.
The Philadelphia 76ers set a new franchise record in triples in a road win over the Toronto Raptors. The biggest names on both sides were absent and the Sixers held on to win in a high-scoring matchup, 135-120.
Kelly Oubre Jr. led the way with a season-best 32 points while shooting 6-9 from downtown. Cam Payne scored 24 points while shooting 6-10 from deep, tying him with Oubre for the most threes in this game. Nico Batum went 5-6 from deep and Kyle Lowry and Buddy Hield each shot 3-5 from beyond the arc. Tobias Harris tallied just one trey ball in three attempts but the fact that he at least made one allowed the Sixers to reach a new record.
The Sixers shot 55.8 percent from deep, their first time all season making half (or more) of their threes. It’s also the first time in franchise history that three players made five triples each. The defense they carved up was hardly a cohesive, let alone impressive, unit but they managed to create lots of open looks from downtown without Joel Embiid or Tyrese Maxey.
Nick Nurse explained that the 76ers’ offense set itself up for success by keeping the ball moving. They played collectively and allowed the player with the best rhythm to keep it going.
“We shot the ball really well but a lot of that was off of some really good next passes or one more pass or whatever — we were creating a lot of those,” Nurse told reporters. “So I think that things kind of shift. Kelly becomes one of our main guys. Cam Payne’s a main driver. Tobias had a good segment there when the game got closer. A lot of guys contribute but I think a lot of it just had to do with making the right play a lot of the time.”
The 76ers ran a lot of on-ball screens and dribble handoffs, testing Kelly Olynyk. The Raptors center excelled in playmaking (game-high 11 assists) and efficient scoring (18 points on 7-8 shooting) but is limited as a defender. He’s not super adept at covering a lot of space at once and because Toronto didn’t bring him beyond the level of the screen, the Sixers found space to shoot.
The Sixers also used a lot of sets with off-ball movement, including floppy sets for Hield, where he runs off of screens from under the basket. Hield gets an additional screen from Oubre after getting trailed very well by his defender, opening up a cleaner look.
On top of all the sets and tactics they used to create room to fire away, the Sixers sometimes just let a shot go with a defender in their face. You can’t get to 20 triples without a handful of tough ones and Philly certainly benefitted from a symphony of hot hands shooting the ball with confidence. Oubre’s near-30-footer to beat the first-half buzzer
Nurse said that Batum usually “defers a lot of offense to people” but that he is a “good catch-and-shoot three-point shooter” who made some great defensive plays in the win over the Raptors. The veteran wing set a new season-high in makes and matched a season-high in attempts from downtown. Oubre tied a season-high in triples made and Payne reached a new season-high.
With Embiid potentially soon to be back in action for the 76ers, the roster around him should get even better looks very soon. While a performance like this is almost certainly a one-off, shooting confidence can stay with them for the rest of the season.
About the Author
Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site’s Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.
Source link