Bojan the Man Against the 76ers

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Brooklyn 131, Philadelphia – 114 – Box Score

Just when you thought the Sixers had hit rock bottom, Tuesday night happens and they borrow even farther down into the Earth’s mantle. Or maybe Dante’s circles of hell would be a more apt analogy, because watching Sixers games these days often feels like you’re being punished for past sins.

Tuesday night’s oppressor took the form of Bojan Bogdanovic, who absolutely went off against the Sixers for a career-high 44 points (his previous high was 28 if you would like an indication of how truly putrid Philadelphia’s defense was on the evening). Bogdanovic single-handledly outscored the Sixers in the first quarter, dropping 17 points in the frame without missing a single shot from the field or the free throw line.

Brooklyn led 32-15 after the first 12 minutes and didn’t really look back from there. Their 131 points was a season-high; the Sixers have a habit of making even one of the worst offensive teams in the NBA look like juggernauts. Sean Kilpatrick, a guy I thought would have made a great call-up for the Sixers while he played for the Delaware 87ers this season, scored 19 points in just 23 minutes off the bench. He’s playing well and averaging 13.6 points in his last 7 games since being signed by the Nets.

The frontcourt duo of Brook Lopez and Thad Young each had a double-double and controlled the glass against a depleted Sixers roster whose only big men consisted of Nerlens Noel, Carl Landry, and Elton Brand. Lopez finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Young had 14 points and 16 rebounds. The pair combined for 9 offensive rebounds as part of a 14-9 advantage for Brooklyn in that department.

Philadelphia got the game to within 9 a few minutes into the fourth quarter, but it never amounted to any real threat of a comeback. Isaiah Canaan shot 5-10 from three for a team-high 20 points. He has hit 4 or more threes in 5 of 7 games in March (oddly, the other two games Canaan went 0-5). Ish Smith recorded 18 points and 6 assists, while Nik Stauskas added 18 points off the bench.

The Sixers have lost 15 of their last 16 games and haven’t beaten any team other than Brooklyn since January 26th. That part doesn’t bother me nearly as much as the fact that the team showed no effort defensively and really appears to have given up on the season. When a group of fans is willing to bus up from Philadelphia to Brooklyn, and they appear more into the game than you are, there’s a problem.

Coach Brown out to see Sixers fans that bused up to Brooklyn for the game tonight. 🙌🏼 pic.twitter.com/QN1IKLSVdj

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 16, 2016

Philadelphia will look to put some things together Thursday night against the Wizards. I’m not optimistic.