Sixers’ free-throw struggles a ‘disappointing’ early-season development

Nick Nurse was tardy to Friday’s postgame news conference, because he immediately wanted to review film clips from the 76ers’ just-completed home loss to the Indiana Pacers.

He grumbled at a critical fourth-quarters stretch, after his team had slashed an 18-point deficit to single digits. Then, Tyrese Maxey split a pair of free throws. Ditto for Paul George. And for KJ Martin.

Those three misfires in about four minutes of game action were the most critical on a night when the Sixers went 23-of-32 from the free-throw line in a 121-107 defeat. The collective dip in free-throw accuracy remains a perplexing early-season development for a team that had been elite in that category in recent seasons. And those struggles become even more magnified now that the Sixers are again shorthanded because of former MVP Joel Embiid’s fractured sinus, and the margin of error shrinks while attempting to claw out of a 7-16 start.

“It’s disappointing,” Nurse said, after unleashing a “jeez” when the topic was first raised during that news conference. " … It’s not just the three points [we lost]. It’s a little disheartening when you’re working really hard to climb back in the game.”

The Sixers exited Friday ranked 23rd in the NBA in free-throw percentage, at 79.6%. It is a stark contrast to last season, when they were second (82.6%), and the two seasons before that, when they led the league with marks of 83.5% in 2022-23 and 82.1% in 2021-22.

Embiid, of course, is a free throw machine by himself, last season topping the NBA with 11.6 attempts over 39 games and making them at an excellent 88.3% clip. Free-throw trips were also a significant part of former Sixer James Harden’s game.

But the Sixers maintained their status even after Harden was traded early in the 2023-24 season, and Embiid missed two months to recover from knee surgery. This season, the Sixers still take the seventh-most foul shots in the NBA (23.6 per game), despite Embiid being sidelined for the vast majority of those outings.

“We have a lot of guys who can get to the rim and finish,” Martin said Friday. “I feel like we get fouled a good amount, so it’s us capitalizing on our free-throw attempts.”

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Nurse was first asked about this issue when his team went 11-of-19 from the line in a four-point loss to the Magic last Wednesday, their only defeat during the five-game run entering the Pacers game.

“Tough one, man,” Nurse said then. " … If you want to win it, you can’t give all those points away like that.”

Following Friday’s loss, second-year wing Ricky Council IV took accountability for missing three of his team-high nine attempts, saying “we definitely left a lot on the table.” Of the seven Sixers who went to the line, big man Guerschon Yabusele — who entered the game shooting 57.5% from the stripe — was oddly the only one to make every attempt (4-of-4). All-Stars Maxey and George, who have both shot better than 85% from the line in their careers, have seen their numbers slip there over the course of this season.

One player with a significant uptick in that category is Martin, a career 67.2% free-throw shooter who, after focusing on improving his shot during the summer, entered Friday making 85.2% of his attempts. His approach, he said, is to take a deep breath, relax, and “just don’t think about it.”

“It’s free,” Martin said. “There’s no one guarding you. … Just shoot it how you shoot your jumpshot, and live with the results.”

But Martin missed one during that crucial fourth-quarter stretch that left Nurse frustrated. As a team, the Sixers’ season-long results have been subpar. It is less than ideal for an offense that has been clunky without Embiid and as several players have toggled in and out of the rotation, ranking 27th in the NBA in efficiency at 106.8 points per 100 possessions.

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The Sixers are about to get another stint of significant practice time, with only one game between now and next Friday.

Perhaps a bigger chunk of those sessions will be spent at the foul line. Because, this season, free throws have not exactly lived up to that name for the Sixers.

“I think we practice them a lot,” Nurse said “… But maybe we have to practice them a little more.”