10 ugly stats (clang) from the 76ers’ Game 1 loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Wretched 3-point shooting is the theme for today’s 76ers Stats column.
And wretched may be too kind a word for it.
The Joel Embiid-less 76ers kept things interesting for a half Monday night before fading and losing Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal-round series to the Heat, 106-92, at FTX Arena in Miami.
Let’s get right to the wretchedness:
WORST SHOOTING EVER: The 76ers shot 6-for-34 from 3-point range, good for a cool 17.6 percent. That’s the worst 3-point performance in 76ers playoff history (minimum 30 attempts) and one of the worst in NBA history. The 76ers’ previous worst shooting performance in a playoff game came in 2018, when they were 7-for-36 (19.4 percent) in a loss to the Heat at the Wells Fargo Center. Only 10 teams have shot below 18 percent from 3 on 30 or more 3’s in playoff history. The 76ers were 3-for-17 from 3 in the second half.
CLANG: Georges Niang was 0-for-7 from the field – all 3-point attempts – and failed to score a point. The only other 76er in franchise history to take at least seven shots in a playoff game and fail to score was Ray Corley, who went 0-for-7 in 1950 in the Syracuse Nationals’ 59-53 win over the Philadelphia Warriors in Game 2 of their 1950 Eastern Division Semifinal Round series at Philadelphia Arena – the second postseason game in franchise history. Niang’s 0-for-7 from 3-point range is 2nd-worst in 76ers postseason history and worst since Allen Iverson shot 0-for-8 in Game 2 of the 76ers’ 2001 Eastern Conference Finals series against the Bucks. Niang was still plus-6 for the game.
A TRUE TEAM EFFORT: Niang [0-for-7], Tyrese Maxey [1-for-6] and Danny Green [1-for-5] all took at least five 3’s and shot 20 percent or worse. It’s the first time in 76ers postseason history three players have taken at least five 3’s in a game and made 20 percent or worse. There have only been six instances of two players doing it.
GREAT AMERICAN HERRO: Tyler Herro had 25 points and seven assists off the bench for Miami, something no player had ever done against the 76ers in a playoff game and only 12 players had done in a regular-season game, most recently Jordan Clarkson of the Lakers in 2017.
ANOTHER HARDEN DUD: Coming off his 7-for-12 shooting performance (58.3 percent) in Game 6 against the Raptors, James Harden shot just 38.5 percent Monday night on 5-for-13, and he’s now played 34 games without shooting 50 percent twice in a row. He’s played 17 games in a row without shooting 40 percent from the field twice in a row. This was Harden’s third game this postseason where he shot below 40 percent with five or more turnovers. The only other 76er with three such games in any postseason is Andrew Toney in 1985.
HE TURNS IT OVER, TOO: Harden is shooting 40 percent this postseason and averaging 3.7 turnovers per game. The only player in franchise history to shoot 40 percent or worse and average over 3 ½ turnovers per game in a postseason was Andre Iguodala in 2008 [33 percent from the field, 4.3 turnovers per game].
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Paul Reed was in almost immediate foul trouble and only played 13 minutes, but he squeezed four points, four assists and nine rebounds into that 13-minute run. He’s the first player in NBA postseason history with nine rebounds and four assists in 13 or fewer minutes. Furkan Korkmaz scored nine points in 10 minutes, becoming only the fourth 76er to do that in a playoff game in the last 30 years (Matt Geiger, Raja Bell, Willie Green).
GOOD START, BAD FINISH: This was only the fifth time in the last 32 years the 76ers have been outscored by at least 15 points in the second half of a playoff game and the third time they led at halftime. The Heat’s 14-point margin of victory is the 4th-largest ever in a playoff game the 76ers led at halftime.
THE ODDS ARE SLIM: The 76ers have lost Game 1 of a playoff series 41 times, and they’ve only come back to win seven of those series. But one of those seven series was just three years ago, when they lost Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series to Washington at home before winning the next four games. In the conference semifinal round, the Sixers have lost their last four series when they lost Game 1 dating back to 2001, when they lost Game 1 to Toronto before winning the series in seven games on the way to the NBA finals.
THIS OUGHT TO BE IMPOSSIBLE: The 76ers’ five starters played 23 minutes in the fourth quarter and made two baskets.
