Sixers coach Doug Collins said his team’s defense is designed to concede medium-range shots.

“We don’t feel like contested two-point field goals will beat you. At the end of the day you’ll get beat in the paint, you’ll get beat with fast breaks and you’ll get beat behind the three-point line, but we just don’t feel like teams are going to beat you making contested two-point shots,” Collins explained. “Our whole philosophy is to try and make those teams make those shots against us. Sometimes it looks like, ‘Man, that guy is really open. Why didn’t someone rotate to him?’ Well, we’d much rather give a guy a long two rather than rotate over so they can make a pass to a guy for an open three.”

The Sixers rank first in effective field goal percentage allowed, which adjusts for the added scoring value of three-pointers, at a mere 42.4 percent.

“We think at the end of the day you play your percentages,” Collins said. “Somebody might get hot and they might make a few, but at the end of the day we think we’ll just stay with what we’re doing and not panic and it usually works itself out.”