Jared McCain’s shooting woes continue as Sixers fall to Trail Blazers in NBA Summer League

LAS VEGAS — The 76ers’ main storyline during the summer league has been Jared McCain’s surprising shooting woes.

And unfortunately for the No. 16 pick in last month’s NBA draft, he had another rough shooting outing Monday night.

The combo guard scored 11 points on 3-for-16 shooting — including going 3-of-10 on threes — in a 97-95 NBA Summer League loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at the Thomas & Mack Center. McCain was held scoreless on 0-for-8 shooting in the second half.

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Bryce McGowens hit a pair of foul shots with 7.3 seconds left to give the Blazers a 95-94 cushion. After a Sixers timeout, McCain was called for a five-second violation while trying to inbound the ball. That gave possession back to the Blazers, and McCain intentionally fouled McGowens. The guard made two more free throws to put Portland up three.

The Sixers pulled within two points, and McCain had a chance to be the hero. However, he airballed what would have been the game-winning three-pointer with one second left.

This comes after McCain struggled through 4-for-14 shooting, including going 1-for-6 on three-pointers, while scoring 11 points in Saturday’s 94-81 victory over the Detroit Pistons. He was shooting 4-for-22 from deep in a combined four games in the NBA and Salt Lake City summer leagues.

“I think a lot of it is getting away from my old habits in college and this open game, more spacing in the NBA,” the 20-year-old said. “So just learning different things throughout the game, trying to learn as quickly as possible.”

Ricky Council IV paced the Sixers with 18 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Jeff Dowtin Jr. added 17 points, four rebounds, and eight assists. And former Imhotep Charter standout Justin Edwards had 12 points, three rebounds, and one block.

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Former Sixers two-way player Terquavion Smith finished with seven points for the Blazers. McGowens finished with a game-high 20 points.

McCain opened the game by making his first three-point attempt. After missing the next two, he hit a 29-footer to close the gap to two points with 16.5 seconds left in first quarter. McCain ended the quarter with eight points on 2-for-4 shooting — both three-pointers — to go with one rebound and an assist.

However, he scored two points on 1-for-4 shooting (1-of-3 on threes) in the second quarter. McCain missed his two third-quarter attempts — a driving floater and a driving finger roll. Things didn’t get any better in the fourth quarter when he misfired on an eight-foot floater, followed by two three-point attempts, a layup, an 18-foot pull-up jumper, and the final three-pointer.

Realizing the professional game is faster and defenders are longer, McCain hasn’t always been able to set his feet on attempts. As a result, he has to adjust to shooting from awkward angles.

“Yeah, I’m practicing on that, working on it,” McCain said. “But I’m always going to believe in my shots. Whether it’s not going in, I work too hard to not believe in it. So I’m going to continue to shoot no matter what.”

But having a slow start is uncommon for the 2023 McDonald’s All-American. He went through one during his one-and-done season at Duke. He ended up being one of college basketball’s best three-point shooters, making 41.4% from deep. The California native was also named to the ACC all-rookie team and led Duke to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.

“Yeah, for sure. I’m used to it,” McCain said. “I know it’s coming. I’m a rookie in the NBA where the greatest players in the world are playing. So I know it’s going to have ups and downs being my first year. So I’m going through it and I’m ready to learn from it.”

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And he has the support of the Sixers.

All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey, who attended Saturday’s game, told McCain to just keep playing. He reminded him there’s going to be ups and downs, but have fun.

“I really like him,” coach Nick Nurse said of McCain. “The first thing I like about him is his IQ. He really knows how to play the game, right? He’s a lot stronger physically too, maybe than he appears to be.

“Obviously, he has a shooting piece. But I really like him because he really knows how to play.”

And he’s determined to improve his shooting. After practice he works on sprinting to the corner and getting balance on three-point attempts.

“A lot of it in the NBA is going to be different footwork,” he said. “Trying to get a shot off quicker, a longer defender, taller defenders. So I just got to find different ways to get the shot off. Maxey is really good at that. So with [assistant coach Rico Hines on that] I think it will help me.”