LOS ANGELES • The Philadelphia 76ers were not a team known for three-pointers. They entered their National Basketball Association (NBA) game on Thursday 27th in the league in three-point accuracy.
But that changed when they made eight of their first 12 attempts from beyond the arc and built a first-half lead as big as 37 points.
Joel Embiid scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Seth Curry also scored 21 points and the visiting Sixers crushed the previously undefeated Orlando Magic 116-92.
Curry made five three-pointers and Philadelphia converted a season-high 15 of 33 attempts from long range (45.5 per cent).
"Tonight, we did a good job of moving that ball around and mixing it up with three-point shots off the double teams and driving the basketball,'' said Curry.
"We know we have a lot of potential and ways to grow, but to be 4-1 already is good."
Tobias Harris had 20 points and nine rebounds while Shake Milton scored 14 points for the Sixers, who won their second in a row.
The 15 three-pointers included one from Ben Simmons, who drained just the third of his career. He finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Nikola Vucevic led the Magic with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while rookie Cole Anthony added 16 points. Orlando, who played their fifth game of the season, became the last team in the league to lose.
Evan Fournier, who scored in double figures in the past four games, had three first-quarter points in eight minutes for the Magic before leaving with back spasms. He did not return after that.
Without Fournier, the team struggled to find their offensive rhythm and trailed 75-40 at half-time. It was the Sixers' fourth-biggest half-time lead in franchise history.
Embiid paced the Sixers with 16 points before the break, and Philadelphia were 10 of 17 from long distance in the opening 24 minutes.
The Magic, meanwhile, missed 14 of their 17 first-half shots from beyond the arc.
"We're not putting enough into guarding the ball and helping. We're not,'' Orlando coach Steve Clifford said on ESPN.
"Things that we've been very good at for two years we're not doing, and that's the hard things."
REUTERS
