Furkan Korkmaz Served Sixers a Reminder on Monday vs. Heat

After re-signing with the Philadelphia 76ers in the offseason, Furkan Korkmaz anticipated having a vital role on the team. 

While it was clear the Turkish sharpshooter wasn't going to force himself into Philly's starting lineup, Korkmaz was under the impression he would continue to be a primary contributor off the bench.

At first, Korkmaz was one of Doc Rivers' go-to reserves. Korkmaz averaged nearly ten points in 20 games through the first two months of the season. In the next 36 matchups, Korkmaz struggled from the field as he hit on just 26-percent of his threes on nearly four attempts per game.

As a result of his struggles, Korkmaz became an odd-man-out as Sixers head coach Doc Rivers started to shrink the rotation.

March 5 against the Miami Heat was the last time Korkmaz saw over 20 minutes on the floor. In that game, he shot 1-5 from the field. 

In the next game, Korkmaz didn't play. Three nights later, Korkmaz registered 14 minutes on the floor in the blowout loss against the Brooklyn Nets. While his eight-point outing was one of his better performances in recent times, Korkmaz didn't make a case to get back in the rotation as he sat out the next three games before picking up a garbage time minute in last Friday's win over the Dallas Mavericks.

Korkmaz has patiently waited for his next chance to prove that he's still got it. On Monday night, with James Harden out of the lineup, Korkmaz got his shot. 

Doc Offers Another Shot

"It's funny -- when I had him go in first, my coaches were looking at me," said Doc Rivers. "My thing was Shake and Furk because we don't have another guard. We needed two guys that could handle the ball at the same time, and when they're on the floor, Furk handles the ball almost as much as Shake, so Shake doesn't have the full-time duty, and that's what we were doing today."

In his first two minutes on the floor, Korkmaz made his only shot for two points. When the second quarter rolled around, he was a perfect 3-3 from the field, knocking down both of his shots from beyond the arc. Going into halftime, Korkmaz scored ten points in nine minutes and led the Sixers' bench.

When the second half rolled around, Korkmaz didn't slow down. In the final 17 minutes, he produced another eight points. As the Sixers went on a run to shock the basketball world by taking out the Miami Heat, Korkmaz was an essential contributor as he put up 18 points in 27 minutes.

Serving Reminders

"That feels great," said Korkmaz, regarding his performance. "I'm happy about it because I need it. I needed to get this run. I mean, losing yesterday, coming into today, we had two of our superstars out, so I think as a team, we sent a message. We set the tone from the beginning. When I got in the game, I was not shy. I just go out there and try to play aggressively, and I think we did a great job."

When Korkmaz was receiving steady playing time weeks ago, his constant struggles made it apparent that his performances off the bench might be hurting the Sixers more than they are helping them.

But after getting some time off to re-group, Korkmaz came in on Monday and did a job well done. Now, he feels he reminded the Sixers that he could be a reliable offensive player when called on.

"As a player, if you don't have that ['I'm still here'] mentality, you're not going to be in this stage in the NBA or in other leagues because you've got to be competitive," the reserve said. "That was our mindset. Especially the second half of the season."

"We've (Korkmaz and Shake Milton) been struggling," he continued. "Sometimes we play a lot of minutes, then we don't play. We play different roles. That's why it was huge for us to get it going and see the ball going in. Also, in the future, we've got to still remind ourselves, too, that we are good players and we need to show this to the people. That was one of these days today."

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.