With under three minutes remaining in the opening quarter of Wednesday’s pairing with the Orlando Magic, the 76ers were in need of a boost. Their offense, at that juncture just five of 13 from the field, was struggling to get going. Orlando, meanwhile, was in control of momentum, having built its lead to nine.

On the Sixers’ ensuing trip down the floor, the landscape of the game began to change, thanks to several subs bringing their range off the bench. Hollis Thompson knocked down a three-pointer, which sliced the deficit to two possessions. After the Sixers got a stop on the opposite end, Isaiah Canaan stepped into a triple of his own, cutting the margin in half. Another Magic miss ultimately set up Thompson for what would be the Sixers’ third triple in the span of 50 seconds. All of a sudden, the contest was tied.

The first period sequence outlined above was part of an 11-0 burst that jumpstarted the Sixers, and was also one of several examples where three-point shooting proved pivotal in the club’s sixth victory of the season. Later in the evening, with the score tied in the early stages of the second half, it was a barrage of triples that pushed the Sixers ahead. When the Sixers needed vital insurance in the closing stages of the fourth quarter, their offense from the outside again came through.

In all, Wednesday was the latest case in which signs of the squad’s three-point shooting strides surfaced.

“It’s been huge,” said Ish Smith Friday, referring to the Sixers’ recent three-point efforts. “Orlando game, I think it won the game for us. We hit a lot of three’s down the stretch. When we were down in the first quarter, that actually kind of brought us back in the game. So, we’ve been shooting the ball really well from the three-point line.”

How well? The Sixers sunk nine of 19 three-point tries at Amway Center versus the Magic. In each of their three outings prior to that match-up, the Sixers registered at least 10 triples. The past four games, Brett Brown’s group has shot 42.3 percent (41-97 3fg) from the outside. Not taking this portion of the schedule into account, the Sixers are a 32.1-percent three-point shooting team on the season.

“I think it’s maybe the most important part of offense,” Brown said. “You get a lot of people that would scratch their head hearing me say that. To play late in the season, you have to have a perimeter group that can make shots, and three’s. I sometimes think that’s almost more important than guarding, which is hard for me to say when you’re talking about the playoffs. You got to score. You got to have scorers.”

The ability to score from beyond the arc is that much more relevant to the Sixers given their current construction. At the moment, starting big men Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor represent key components around which the rest of the Sixers’ roster revolves.

“I think it’s big for us,” said Hollis Thompson, discussing the benefits of the Sixers hitting from deep. “We play fast, so when we get up a lot of three’s, I think it continues to help us play fast. I think when Jah is doing his thing down low and drawing double-teams, it opens up so much more as far as when we can hit those shots. It just helps out tremendously.”

Smith, the point guard, recognizes the responsibility he has in helping fuel the Sixers from three-point territory. He relies on feel and instinct to determine when the timing is right to try and spark specific wing players.

“It opens up everything as far as Jah and inside, Nerlens’ lobs, and it’s my job to get guys open shots,” Smith said. “With Nerlens and Jah, it’s pretty simple to get them going. Jah, you just throw him the ball on the block. And Nerlens, come off the pick-and-roll and throw the lob. So it’s pretty simple to get those guys going. Getting our shooters going is huge.”

“It helps us win games, and helps us stay in games,” said Noel about the Sixers’ making three-pointers. “Just keep a level-headedness of continuing to play basketball, keep the ball moving, guys are knocking down shots, and that’s big for us. It opens up a lot in the spacing aspect of it. We just got to keep riding the wave.”

The strength of that wave could be threatened Sunday, when Boston pays its first visit of the season to The Center. The Celtics rank third in the NBA with a 32.1 opponent three-point field goal percentage.