Sixers’ Kyle Lowry set to pass Hall of Famer Paul Arizin as Nova’s all-time leading NBA scorer

PHOENIX — Kyle Lowry is on the cusp of another milestone.

The 76ers point guard needs three points to pass Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Paul Arizin as Villanova’s all-time leading NBA scorer.

Lowry has 16,264 points heading into Monday’s 10:15 p.m. game against the Phoenix Suns at the Footprint Center. Arizin, a 10-time All-Star and two-time scoring champion, scored 16,266 points during his 10 seasons with the Philadelphia Warriors. Arizin ranks No. 122 on the league’s career scoring list.

“I think [former Villanova NBA player] Jalen Brunson will surpass that. I think Mikal Bridges will surpass that,” Lowry said of the scoring title he’s about to achieve.

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The 38-year-old, who is in his 19th season, has been a member of the Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets, and Sixers. However, he never played during his short stint with the Hornets. Charlotte bought out his contract after acquiring him last season in a trade from the Heat.

Asked about the scoring title, Lowry tried to deflect the recognition and said, “I don’t care.”

But a case could be made for Lowry being ‘Nova’s most versatile NBA player.

He’s the Wildcats’ all-time NBA leader in assists (7,016), steals (1,474), three-pointers (2,188), minutes (36,132), and games (1,143).

“I haven’t thought about it, honestly,” Lowry said of comparing his career to those of Villanova’s all-time great NBA players. “When I retire, you will be able to send me a tweet or something so I can look at all of the records, and I can kind of comment on that.

“But right now, I’m just trying to figure out how to get the team a little bit better.”

The Sixers should get a boost this week as Paul George is expected to make his debut Monday night. However, without George and Joel Embiid, the 1-4 team is in next-to-last place in the Eastern Conference standings despite having one of the league’s easiest early-season schedules.

The team’s poor start has been concerning for coach Nick Nurse.

“Like I said several times, we’ve got to play better,” Nurse said. “We’ve got to play better for more extended minutes.”

The 124-107 home loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday was a great example of the Sixers being prepared and locked in. But they were unable to ride the wave during rough stretches and get back on track.

“So our minutes for good play has to get extended significantly,” Nurse said. “[There are] minutes where I would live with average play, but not way below average.”

The Sixers know they must also become more consistent.

On Saturday, they shot well from three-point range and collected steals on defense, but they struggled to rebound and make layups.

That inconsistency, coupled with the absences of Embiid and George, has led to Sixers fans jumping off the bandwagon. But it normally takes a larger sample size to determine the identity of a team. That starts at 10 games, at the earliest, for NBA franchises to really show how competitive they are, Kelly Oubre Jr. said.

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“It’s takes 10 games, but not when you are a Philadelphia 76er,” Oubre said. “If you are kind of [asking] why, we’re getting — it’s a slow start of course — obviously, a lot of backlash. We did have a lot of hype coming into the season. So that does play a part in it. Everybody kind of had expectations.

“But we are a brand new team, minus five players, six players. It takes time. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to keep getting better, keep getting closer, keep learning from our mistakes, so that it doesn’t happen again.”