Fun Fact: The Philadelphia 76ers Can't Shoot For Shit, Per Sources
Heading into season, the one knock that everybody had against the Sixers is that they no longer had a legitimate shooting threat from beyond the arc. You knew it, I knew it, the entire fanbase knew it, the rest of the league knew it. They have length, sure. They have--at least on paper--the best defensive lineup in the league. But after losing Jimmy Butler and JJ Redick over the offseason, they don't have anybody who can consistently knock down a shot anymore.
Did the Sixers go out and address that problem? Or did they just treat it like those dishes that are currently sitting in your sink and thought to themselves, "meh, I'll get around to it later"? After last night's joke of a win against Cleveland, I think we all know the answer.
8/38 from 3 last night. EIGHT. FOR. THIRTY-EIGHT. And if it weren't for Joel Embiid going 3-for-5 from deep, those numbers would have looked even more disgusting than they already were. Tobias Harris--a max contract player--went 0/11 from three. Tobias Harris is supposed to be the defacto shooter on this team now and he looked fucking horrific. 0-for-11. Disgusting. The Sixers had to rely on a Joel Embiid dunk in the final seconds of that game to pull off a 1-point win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the best 3-point shooter on the night was Tristan fucking Thompson.
8-for-38 from 3. 14 turnovers on the night for a team that leads the NBA in turnovers. I mean holy hell this is the most frustrating basketball team of all time. I get that it's only November but what a pathetic performance that was last night. Any time they had a chance to put the game away, Brett decides to put in a bunch of jackasses who can't play and the lead immediately disappeared. They'd get up by 9, Brett would try to get cute with the lineup, then all of a sudden Cleveland had a chance to tie it up with their next bucket. Thank god the Sixers' shooting wore off on Kevin Love a little because I feel like this is a shot that typically goes in for the win.
But yeah. It was a terrible night for Tobias Harris. It was a terrible night for Brett Brown. And I'd say it was a terrible night for Elton Brand because everybody knew that not having a shooter was going to hurt this team, yet the Sixers have decided to just roll with it anyway. What's the complete opposite of a moral victory?
Sidenote: 2 steals and 3 blocks from our sweet prince Matisse, the reckless thief.