Life in the NBA has not always been easy for Philadelphia 76ers guard Furkan Korkmaz, but on Friday night, the basket must have looked like a giant waste bin for him.
Korkmaz drilled six shots from deep on nine attempts on his way to a career-high 24 points to lead the Sixers to a 100-89 win over the Chicago Bulls. He was huge in the second half as 18 of those points came after halftime and he helped the Sixers pull away late.
“I feel really good as a player,” he said postgame. “When you do some stuff out there, my teammates, my coaching staff. It was fun. It was really fun.”
The Sixers really went through him in the second half as he did a terrific job of finding spots on the floor and he even had a big-time dunk as he drove past Bulls big man Cristiano Felicio and jammed it on his head. It was a move that even surprised Korkmaz himself.
“In that time of the game, I was really feeling it,” he laughed. “I got that confidence and when I see the open lane, I just take off. I was not also expecting that, but I just dunked it. It was all good moments.”
On the following possession, he took a charge. Which one felt better for him?
“That’s a tough question,” he added with another laugh. “I think I would say the dunk.”
What a Furkan way to get career high 22 points! 🔥🔥
Furkan Korkmaz with the dunk!#PhilaUnite
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) January 18, 2020
The Sixers will now head out on the road where they are hoping to have a big turnaround considering they have had a lot of struggles on the road. They will begin a three-game road trip on Saturday against the New York Knicks. [lawrence-related id=23702,23688,23662]