Sixers are Happy With Furkan Korkmaz's Comeback Game
Just the other night, Sixers veteran reserve Furkan Korkmaz was essentially bumped out of the team's regular rotation. As 76ers rookie Isaiah Joe's defense impressed Sixers head coach Doc Rivers, he was well on his way to taking over Korkmaz's minutes.
"Everyone earns their minutes, and it's always a fair competition," Rivers said on Sunday after the loss to the Raptors. "So, right now, we're going with Isaiah." Fast forward to Tuesday night, and Rivers throws a curveball.
With Sixers' starting guard Seth Curry missing Tuesday's game against the Raptors with ankle soreness, Philly had to shake up its starting lineup once again. Recently, Rivers had rolled with Matisse Thybulle in the starting lineup when Ben Simmons was out. With Curry out, though, Rivers gave the nod to Korkmaz.
“With the starters, he has to do less, which allows him to do more,” Rivers explained. “He didn’t have to put the ball on the floor as much. He allowed the game to come to him. Them trapping Ben (Simmons) or Joel (Embiid), one of the thoughts before the game was if Seth can’t play, who’s our next best spot-up shooter? Furkan was the guy, so he really came through for us.”
Before Tuesday night's rematch against Toronto, Korkmaz averaged 1.8 points and shot .083 from three over the previous five games. On Tuesday night, Korkmaz caught fire in the starting lineup early as he knocked down four of his six shots from deep for 16 points in the first quarter alone.
In the end, Korkmaz finished the night shooting 5-for-11 from the field, totaling for 19 points. His early contributions helped the Sixers pick up some much-needed early momentum before they eventually secured a 109-102 win over Toronto.
“He’s been huge,” said Sixers All-Star Ben Simmons after the game. “We expect great games from Furk. His IQ is actually very high on the floor. Offensively, he’s gotten a lot better finishing through contact and finishing at the rim, and obviously, he’s a knock-down shooter. He’s been great for us.”
Despite being in a slump as of late, Korkmaz's teammates never lost confidence in him. Just the other night, Sixers veteran Tobias Harris refused to acknowledge that Korkmaz was even really in a slump. Seeing as though Harris witnesses Korkmaz's work ethic up close and personal, he knew it was only a matter of time before the Turkish shooter would bounce back. And Korkmaz proved him to be right.
“I needed one of these games," Korkmaz admitted on Tuesday. "In the last four or five games, I was definitely struggling; we can definitely say that. Doc trusts me. He gave me the confidence to start the game, and I think I did a good job.”
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
