The Philadelphia 76ers kept their hot streak alive Wednesday night in Orlando. After taking down the Magic by a final of 116-106, they are now winners of five straight. Here are some observations from the matchup.
1) Seth Curry sliding into point guard role nicely
With Tyrese Maxey entering health and safety protocol, the Sixers find themselves extremely thin when it comes to ball-handlers. Doc Rivers has brought up the idea of using Seth Curry more at point guard, and the current circumstances have allowed him to experiment more with this look.
Despite being more of a scoring guard at heart, Curry has managed to be more than serviceable as a facilitator. Wednesday was easily his best performance running the offense as he dished a team-high 12 assists. On top of his passing, the sharpshooting guard also notched 20 points and seven rebounds.
Each time Curry is given a chance to take on more, he knocks it out of the park. Despite minimal time at point guard, he found a good balance between scorer and facilitator. After seeing how well Curry played in this role, Rivers is sure to go back to it at times moving forward.
2) Furkan Korkmaz stays hot
Furkan Korkmaz was one of the main standouts in the Sixers win over Houston Monday and had another strong showing in Orlando. Things were not looking great for him at first, but he managed to come alive in the second half. Getting a start for the second-straight game, Korkmaz posted 20 points and five rebounds in 40 minutes of action.
Monday's bounce-back performance looks to have done wonders for Korkmaz's confidence as he looks like the player we are accustomed to seeing. More importantly, he is not hesitating to get shots up. The Sixers need someone who will be an unconscious shooter on the perimeter, and Korkmaz fits that role nicely. Twelve of his 20 points came from beyond the arc, connecting on four of his nine attempts.
With multiple contributors out, the Sixers need production to come from somewhere. Luckily for them, it appears Korkmaz has managed to break out of the cold spell that troubled him for weeks. His focus needs to remain on riding the momentum of two good performances.
3) Tobias Harris bounces back
Another Sixer who has had their fair share of troubles recently is Tobias Harris. He was one of the biggest stories in Monday's win after he was caught chirping back at the home crowd following some boos early in the night.
Despite all the outside noise, Harris managed to put that game behind him. He bounced back nicely against the Magic, finishing the night with 22 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks. Harris also shot the ball efficiently, knocking down nine of his 19 attempts from the floor.
This was a much-needed performance from Harris. Coming out and playing well against the Magic should wash out the taste of what happened against the Rockets earlier this week. Harris is an essential piece for the Sixers. They cannot afford to let outside distractions affect his psyche and play.
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