Two straight wins for the Sixers, and two straight nights in which batches of Furkan Korkmaz three pointers were the catalyst for pulling away in the second half.
It’s hard not to appreciate the Korkmaz story in 2020. Here’s a guy who had his option declined last season and asked for a trade that wasn’t granted. He stuck around anyway, explored options elsewhere, but came back to the Sixers anyway hoping to fill a role as a bench scorer on what we thought might be a stacked team. He hits a game winner in Portland, goes cold for a bit, then comes back in January with a career-high 24 points on 8-11 shooting, hitting six of his nine threes.
“Everybody could see that I was really feeling it,” Korkmaz said after his best NBA performance. “They just tried to find me, and I also got good open looks. I think, as a team, we really focused on moving the ball tonight and taking good shots. We executed the game plan well.”
“That’s why it’s the NBA. Some things you can control, some things you can’t control. But right now I’m happy to be here and be part of this team, and just trying to give my best on the court. Every player has ups and downs in their career but I think right now I’ve found my role on the team. I’m just going there to help my teammates get the win.”
