Jeff Dowtin needs more playing time

Jeff Dowtin deserves more minutes for the 76ers.

Caleb Martin doesn’t need to score to have an impact on the match. And the Sixers’ three-point shooting improved dramatically after halftime on Sunday night, only to decline again.

These three things stood out in the Sixers’ 107-105 win over the Charlotte Hornets at the Wells Fargo Center.

Dowtin shows his worth

With Tyrese Maxey sidelined with a strained right hamstring, Sixers coach Nick Nurse said he might turn to Dowtin to provide point guard depth.

The opportunity for the two-way guard came Sunday. And he took full advantage, finishing with 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting to go with two rebounds and steals. Dowtin gave the team a spark off the bench. He also provided solid defense and his ability to shoot opened things up for teammates.

Those were all things the Sixers missed from the point guard position in Friday’s loss to the Lakers with Kyle Lowry out of the game. They would benefit from keeping Dowtin in the rotation until Maxey, their All-Star point guard, returns from his injury.

Martin’s impact

The undersized power forward finished with five points on 1-of-5 shooting. However, the 6-foot-1, 205-pounder hit a huge three-pointer. He also grabbed a clutch rebound and made the game-winning foul shots in overtime. Martin also did much of the unheralded work. Martin set up the picks, looked for loose balls and set up teammates for easy baskets. But early on he excelled on defense. He finished with a career-high five rebounds, three assists and four steals.

Night and day and back to night

Three-point shooting has been a disappointment for the Sixers this season. They made just 32.6% of their long-range attempts in their first eight games. That ranked 26th in the NBA.

So it was no surprise that the Sixers continued to miss long shots against the Hornets in the first half. They missed 13 of their first 14 three-pointers in the first half. It showed all the signs of another long night of shooting.

But the Sixers instead responded by making six of 11 3-pointers in the third quarter. They made just two of eight three-pointers in the fourth quarter and overtime. For the game, the Sixers made just 9 of 33 threes (27.3%).