The Sixers' Three-Point Approach Is Stuck in the 20th Century

The Sixers made history this past weekend. Not the good kind, either.

The Philadelphia 76ers just did something crazy.

First time in NBA history that a team has won consecutive games despite making 10+ FEWER 3s than their opponent in each game. (per @Stathead)

And did it without Maxey/Embiid/PG. pic.twitter.com/jdpksEBCvo
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) March 16, 2026

Somehow, their 7-of-25 night from three-point range in their surprising 109-103 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday was an upgrade over what they did the prior day. In Saturday's cover-your-eyes win over the tanking Brooklyn Nets, the Sixers hit three three-pointers.

Not in the first quarter. Not in the first half. Total. They shot 3-of-25 from deep across the entire game.

The Nets, who finished 15-of-43 from downtown, briefly took the lead over the Sixers late in the fourth quarter before remembering that they have zero interest in winning games this season. They closed out the game with rookies Ben Saraf and Nolan Traoré along with two-way players Tyson Etienne, Chaney Johnson and E.J. Liddell, which allowed the Sixers to close the game on a 18-10 run.

In the Sixers' defense, three of their highest-volume three-point shooters were sidelined for both games this weekend. Tyrese Maxey (finger), Paul George (suspension) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (elbow) are all expected to be out for at least one more week, which leaves VJ Edgecombe, Quentin Grimes, Cam Payne and a hodgepodge of forwards to shoulder the load for the time being.

This isn't the first time that this year's squad had a woeful shooting performance from deep, though.

In their 103-91 win over the Orlando Magic on Jan. 9, the Sixers shot 4-of-28 from three-point range. Maxey, George, Oubre and Joel Embiid all played in that game. They also shot 5-of-24 from deep in their 119-115 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 5 and 5-of-17 from distance in their 113-104 win over the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 19.

On the season, the Sixers are 21st in made three-pointers per game and 20th in both three-point percentage and three-point attempts. That's almost unthinkable for a Daryl Morey-led team, although the same has held true over the past few seasons.

How Morey's Rockets broke the NBA

During Morey's decade-plus-long tenure with the Houston Rockets, they became known for the analytics-oriented "Moreyball," which placed a premium on three-pointers and shots close to the basket and largely eschewed mid-range jumpers.

Starting in 2013-14, Morey's Rockets led the NBA for six of the next seven seasons in both three-point attempts and three-point makes per game. Meanwhile, they were dead last in mid-range shot attempts per game in each of those seven seasons.

Year	3PM	3PA	3FG%	Midrange FGA
2013-14	9.5 (1st)	26.6 (1st)	35.8% (16th)	3.1 (30th)
2014-15	11.4 (1st)	32.7 (1st)	34.8% (14th)	3.0 (30th)
2015-16	10.7 (3rd)	30.9 (2nd)	34.7% (19th)	4.2 (30th)
2016-17	14.4 (1st)	40.3 (1st)	35.7% (15th)	2.5 (30th)
2017-18	15.3 (1st)	42.3 (1st)	36.2% (14th)	3.0 (30th)
2018-19	16.1 (1st)	45.4 (1st)	35.6% (12th)	2.1 (30th)
2019-20	15.6 (1st)	45.3 (1st)	34.5% (24th)	2.2 (30th)

In essence, the Rockets exploited a yet-to-be-solved math problem.

In 2015-16, they were below-average in three-point shooting percentage, but their heavy volume of long-range attempts helped them finish seventh in offensive rating despite ranking 23rd leaguewide in field-goal attempts.

Those splits were even more extreme two years later. The Rockets had the fourth-fewest shot attempts of any team in 2017-18, yet they led the league in offensive rating. They had middling shooting percentages both overall and from deep, but they attempted 6.6 more threes per game than the second-place Brooklyn Nets and hit 2.6 more threes per game.

If a player is adept at knocking down long-range two-point jumpers, it would behoove him to move his shooting range back a few feet to sneak behind the three-point line. If shooting percentages aren't significantly worse from that range, three points being 50% more than two points makes those shots far preferable. (Ironically, Morey now thinks three-pointers have left the game "unbalanced.")

Recent Sixers teams have ironically reflected that attitude.

Sixers' return to full health won't solve everything

Since Morey arrived in Philadelphia ahead of the 2020-21 season, the Sixers have ranked in the bottom third of the league in made three-pointers in all but one season. They never ranked higher than 16th in three-point attempts, and they were 14th or higher in mid-range shot attempts in all but one season as well.

Year	3PM	3PA	3FG%	Midrange FGA
2020-21	11.3 (23rd)	30.1 (26th)	37.4% (11th)	14.3 (6th)
2021-22	11.6 (22nd)	31.8 (27th)	36.4% (7th)	12.9 (9th)
2022-23	12.6 (12th)	32.6 (16th)	38.7% (1st)	9.4 (18th)
2023-24	12.1 (22nd)	33.3 (19th)	36.3% (18th)	10.2 (13th)
2024-25	12.7 (21st)	37.2 (17th)	34.1% (27th)	8.7 (14th)
2025-26	12.6 (21st)	35.8 (20th)	35.3% (20th)	9.9 (12th)

That's almost the polar opposite of the Morey-led Rockets.

The Sixers only had James Harden's passing wizardry for a year-and-a-half. It's no coincidence that they had their best three-point shooting year of Morey's tenure in Philly during that stretch.

They've otherwise been built around Joel Embiid and unconventional point guards, which explains their mid-range volume as well. Embiid is one of the few players in the league who's lethal enough from that area of the floor to justify that type of volume.

Tyrese Maxey is averaging a career-high 6.7 assists per game this season, but he isn't an elite table-setter like Chris Paul or Luka Dončić. That's where VJ Edgecombe's reps as a primary ballhandler during this stretch could prove invaluable.

If the Sixers discover that Edgecombe can handle that role—or if his occasional ballhandling struggles this season help fuel an offseason of improvement—it could help unlock an even better version of Maxey, too. Being able to use him more as an off-guard movement shooter or catch-and-shoot threat could help boost his efficiency.

Getting Maxey, Oubre and George back would go a long way toward fixing the Sixers' recent three-point problem, but that alone isn't enough. They need to prioritize adding more long-range shooters in the draft and free agency this offseason so they aren't as much of a non-factor from deep moving forward.

They should probably stop giving the OKC Thunder more sharpshooters, too.

Jared McCain and Isaiah Joe combined to shoot 9-of-17 from deep in the Thunder's matinee win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. (Not that anyone's counting.)

For those keeping track at home, that's one fewer three than the Sixers combined for in two games this weekend.

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Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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