The Philadelphia 76ers were locked in a tight battle with the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night to begin their season and they needed a bit of a spark. They found that spark in the form of Furkan Korkmaz.
The fifth-year guard out of Turkey had himself a big performance in the fourth quarter as he had 18 in the final 12 minutes while knocking down all four of his triples in a 117-97 win over the Pelicans. It was an effort that the Sixers desperately needed in order to come out with a win on the road to open the season.
“He was lights out,” said Tobias Harris. “We had a couple of turnovers there in that little stretch. In that timeout, we just said ‘Hey, let’s protect the basketball, get some easy ones, take care’. We came out, got the steal, a transition layup, and from there, I guess that layup was just him getting hot. He started rolling off 3s which expanded the lead for us. Guys like that, fourth quarter, just opened the game for us. That was big time for him.”
Korkmaz finished with 22 points to tie Joel Embiid for the team lead in this one and the Sixers needed all of his efforts in this one. The Pelicans cut the lead to 81-75 before Korkmaz began his rampage.
“He was amazing,” said Embiid. “That’s what we gonna need all season, especially from the bench guys. It’s always good when the starters have limited minutes, but like I said, the last few days my message has been, as you see we move the ball, we love moving the ball, we have fun with each other. That’s gonna go a long way.”
From his watchful eye on the bench, Korkmaz felt like the Sixers were missing something. He felt like the team needed something to move forward and that is what sparked his big final stanza.
“When I was watching the game from the bench, I think we needed a push to support the first unit because the game was sort of in between,” Korkmaz explained. “I think we needed a little bit more pace to take the lead. Overall, I think the second unit, we did a good job especially when the first unit plays good or bad, we need to give a push and support them.”
Pretty soon, Korkmaz’s big game allowed the Sixers to expand their lead to double digits and they were then able to salt away a solid win.
“How many 3s he hit? Four or five in the fourth?” laughed Tyrese Maxey. “Man, Furk, we’ve seen it. We’ve seen Furk do it before. He’s a professional. He’s really good at instant offense, the microwave, once he gets hot, there’s nothing you can do.”
Probably the best part about Korkmaz’s game was the fact that coach Doc Rivers did not have to put Embiid back in the game. The bench unit was able to close out a big win on the road.
“It was great, we needed it,” said Rivers. “Defensively, though, I thought both groups in the second half after the first four minutes of the third quarter, defensively, I thought that’s where the game changed. It was great having that group out there on the floor. Really, early in the year, you try to grow your bench and let them try and figure out. I thought it was fantastic that they can not only go in, but stay in, and finish the game. That pays dividends later. That was good for us.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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