Ah man, that’s a very onerous loss to swallow. Dribbling is admittedly onerous you guys.
The Sixers fell 108-107 to the LA Clippers Wednesday night time after main for nearly the whole night time. Kawhi Leonard scored 17 factors, together with two and-1s within the last minute of the sport to place the Clippers forward.
Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 26 factors, taking pictures 9-of-20 from the sector however wasn’t in a position to get the ball on the final possession of the sport.
James Harden gave the Clippers 16 factors on 6-of-15 taking pictures together with 14 assists and 5 rebounds in his return to Philadelphia.
Listed here are some ideas from the Heart.
First Quarter
- The boos for James Harden in the course of the introduction of beginning lineups have been perhaps not as loud as anticipated. That was not the case as soon as the sport bought underway, as the world let him hear it each time he touched the ball, which was typically given he was bringing the ball up the ground.
- Kelly Oubre Jr.’s return to the lineup certain was a welcome one. Not solely did he make three of his first 4 pictures of the sport, however he was the shifting ball very effectively across the ground, and had two first quarter assists to indicate for it.
- Philly’s defensive technique early was to ship delayed doubles at Leonard and dwell with the results. Whereas Terrence Mann went 2-of-4 from three to start out the night time, it largely paid off. Leonard shot 0-of-4 within the first whereas the Clippers as a crew shot 33.3% from the sector as a crew.
- After a sizzling begin, the Sixers offense went slightly chilly. They have been held to 2 discipline objectives during the last 4:47 of the primary. On prime of that, Maxey missed 5 of his first six pictures. Nonetheless, he was in a position to scoop in a layup earlier than the buzzer to provide the Sixers a 12-point lead after one.
Second Quarter
- Nick Nurse went again to his sub patterns from Sunday as Maxey opened up the second after enjoying the whole first. These minutes began effectively for Philly, thanks largely to Paul Reed. He scored their first 4 factors of the quarter, grabbing an offense rebound off a blocked Buddy Hield three to complete the play. He blocked two pictures in his first shift as effectively, swatting away a Paul George layup earlier than checking again out.
- In the meantime, it was a really up-and-down first half for Mo Bamba. His first two discipline objectives of the night time have been very nice putbacks. He additionally denied George a poster by blocking him on the rim, however on the very subsequent possession let Mann seize an offensive rebound over him. He took a clumsy fall a number of moments later and was favoring his proper knee when he checked out of the sport.
- The Sixers’ offense went slightly chilly to shut the second straight quarter. They solely scored two discipline objectives during the last 5:00 of the half, two powerful pull-up jumpers over Leonard from Maxey. L.A. slowly chipped away, slicing the result in 4 with a corner-3 simply earlier than the buzzer.
Third Quarter
- The momentum from the earlier half trickled into the start of this one. The Clippers made their first 4 pictures of the quarter to not simply tie issues up, however briefly take their first lead of the sport.
- Philly responded to that preliminary burst effectively, and it was spearheaded by Bamba. He had one other putback, in addition to a block on Ivica Zubac, although the field rating credited that block to Harris. Each Maxey and Kyle Lowry have been in a position to get Bamba open seems to be within the dunker spot as effectively. Tonight ended up being Bamba’s first double-double as a Sixer, and he reached it midway by way of the third.
- For the primary time all night time, the Sixers ended 1 / 4 considerably robust. Maxey hit a pair extra powerful buckets, together with a 3 that bounced off the rim and backboard in a really Kawhi vogue. Hield additionally hit his first two three-pointers of the night time, that and a dribble-drive from him had the Sixers holding a four-point lead after three.
Fourth Quarter
- Some extra actually spectacular baskets from Maxey to start out the quarter as he lined as much as play the whole second half. He opened the fourth with a pull-up within the midrange. He knocked down a 3 effectively behind the road and was one spin away from a hell of an and-1 on the following possession. His last taking pictures line for the night time won’t look nice, however nearly each basket he bought to fall did.
- Philly opted for a really small lineup down the stretch, a lineup with Nico Batum and Harris as their tallest guys on the ground. That didn’t cease Batum from selecting up the ball handler full-court at instances, even blocking a Harden layup try. Batum knocked down two slightly giant three-pointers from the nook down the stretch as effectively.
- The double groups bought solely extra aggressive. Maxey was just about going through them as soon as he crossed half courtroom. He even slipped and fell down on an inbound, giving L.A./ the ball free of charge of their backcourt. Oubre turned the ball over on the very subsequent possession attempting to get the ball up the ground when he was stripped by George. Leonard hit a ridiculous up-and-under layup, plus the foul to retake the lead for the Clippers.
- This sport actually by no means had a second to breathe. The Sixers got here proper again down the ground and retook the lead off a deep three from Hield. Leonard adopted that up with one other spectacular reverse layup, on which he bought fouled once more.
- The Sixers had 8.8 seconds for the final possession of the sport, which ended with Leonard stuffing Oubre on the rim. They gained the bounce ball that wedgie brought on, however Oubre took too lengthy to get a shot up. Only a brutal one the Sixers let get away.
- The Sixers are again on the street to shut out the month. They’ll head to Cleveland to tackle the Cavaliers Friday night time. It was reported earlier right this moment that Donovan Mitchell is about to return to the lineup for that contest.