76ers Overreacting to Kyle Korver Proves the Team Is Technically Trying to Win
There’s good and bad news for Philadelphia 76ers fans after Wednesday night’s 95-79 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
The good news is we have definitive proof that the 76ers study game film—or have at least played enough NBA 2K15 to be familiar with skilled players from other teams. The bad news is that even their most careful planning backfired spectacularly.
SB Nation’s Mike Prada picked out a poignant moment from Wednesday’s 76ers-Hawks game. He noticed Philadelphia’s extreme dedication to defending Atlanta’s Kyle Korver at the three-point line—or, more specifically, how poorly the 76ers' efforts went for them.
Prada noticed that at one point, three 76ers defenders took off after Korver as the shooting guard rounded a Paul Millsap screen. This was far too many cooks, and Philadelphia’s overreaction to Korver’s league-leading three-point shooting (55 percent) left Millsap all alone in the paint.
Atlanta capitalized, Millsap dunked and the 76ers were again left scratching their heads.
As for Korver, he continued to stuff the stat sheet, despite his opponent’s hypersensitivity around the perimeter. The Hawks shooting guard hit five of his seven three-point attempts (71 percent!) and finished the game with 17 points.
Give yourselves a hand, 76ers. You tried, which is half the battle.
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