Both the Philadelphia 76ers and the Indiana Pacers were shorthanded heading into a matchup at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Tuesday. They were both missing some key pieces and when that happens, teams have to rely heavily on one aspect to find some success.
The Pacers leaned on the 3-point shot a lot as that launched 41 of them, making 14, and they were able to come away with a 103-94 win over the Sixers. Philadelphia, on the other hand, only shot 26 triples and made eight of them.
The big reason why that is such a big issue is that the Pacers gave themselves a chance. When a team is so shorthanded, the 3-pointer is the great equalizer. Philadelphia was not able to keep up and the offense just could not get into a rhythm in the second half after scoring only 32 points in the final 24 minutes.
“We didn’t move the ball,” said coach Doc Rivers. “I didn’t think our spacing was correct and I didn’t think we were very organized tonight in the second half. We didn’t run our stuff. We ran a lot of random and that happens, but when you ask the team after the game, how many times do we run our early offense and when they can give you the answer, that’s the answer.”
It was not just the lack of 3-point attempts, they just could not finish at the basket or finish any of their transition opportunities.
“How many transition buckets did we blow tonight?” said Rivers. “Where we had 3-on-1 or 2-on-1 where we missed layups? So I’ll take the 2s too. We just couldn’t make anything in the second half.”
Philadelphia was able to score 33 points in the opening quarter and they knocked down four of their six triples. The ball was moving and they were able to get into a rhythm which is something that was not there in the second half. When they did find an open look, they could not convert as they shot only 29.5% from the floor overall and 2-for-14 from deep in the second half.
“If we do hit those shots, I think it’s a different game,” said Ben Simmons. “Then defensively, I think we weren’t able to get into transition because we weren’t stopping the ball and they making shots. So that plays into it.”
The Sixers will now move on to face the Miami Heat on the road on Thursday.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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