Sixers Collapse Late Against Heat

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Miami 96, Philadelphia 91 – Box Score

Back when Bill Simmons was a writer, he used to post what he called the Levels of Losing, documenting all the different types of losses a fan base could endure. During this current Philadelphia 76ers season, fans have been treated to an almost nightly version of “The Full-Fledged Butt-Kicking”. Those types of losses are obviously awful to watch, but they don’t carry the same sort of emotional gut check as some of the other varieties. Saturday night in Miami was a different animal entirely.

In a lot of ways, it was the best game the Sixers have played all season. Following their lethargic defensive effort against the Hornets, Philadelphia was very active on that end of the floor, holding Miami to just 5-18 shooting from behind the arc. The team also tightened up their turnover issues to a degree, only committed one more on the game than the Heat (17 to 16). The Sixers were up by 15 at halftime and still led by 11 with 7 minutes remaining in the game. However, as I mentioned, we were discussing Levels of Losing, and Saturday’s game combined “The Princeton Principle” (underdog hanging with the heavy favorite until falling at the end) and The Broken Axle (when the wheels come off down the stretch).

It started with something Sixers fan were furious at Brett Brown for: a stretch of intentionally fouling Hassan Whiteside. Whiteside, normally a 52% foul shooter, would hit 4 of 6 from the line across the next three possessions, which is a much better points-per possession basis than the average team will record. Still, while it wasn’t ideal and I also didn’t agree with the decision by Brown, Miami only went from being down ten points to down eight over that stretch. It wasn’t the reason the Sixers lost.

Instead, the loss can more confidently be tied to the fact that after the 7-minute mark, the Sixers missed their next 11 field goals attempts, not hitting another shot until Robert Covington’s meaningless lay-up in the final seconds. Over that field goal drought, Miami went on a 19-2 run that was the true turning point of the game. People again came down on Brown hard, saying it’s up to him to call a play in that situation, but we don’t know what he was drawing up and whether it was simply a case of the Sixers not executing. It’s not his fault the Sixers didn’t make any of their 6 three-point attempts over that time frame.

Whereever you want to place the blame, the fact remains that the Sixers have now lost 24 straight games dating back to last season, and are 0-14 on the year. They’re approaching dangerous territory with the record for consecutive losses across seasons being 26 and the longest losing streak to start a season set at 18. Sixers fans are understandably heartbroken that the team let a win slip away, but at least Saturday night showed signs that this epic losing skid might soon come to an end.

Other Game Notes:

• Robert Covington had easily his best game of the season, going 3-6 from three (his first makes on the year!) and getting to the line 7 times (hitting 6) for 21 points. Hopefully, this game represented the last of the rust shaking off for Big Shot Bob coming back from injury.
• Isaiah Canaan was on fire for much of the game, until the lamentable fourth-quarter drought during which he was 0-3 from three. Still, he finished with a team-high 22 points, hitting 5-12 threes, including one from about 30 feet that resulted in a 4-point play. Nights like these are when you can see glimpses of why Sam Hinkie was so interested in him. Unfortunately, they don’t often tend to carry over to the next game.
• Jahlil Okafor predictably struggled against the length of Hassan Whiteside, getting his shot blocked 5 times on the game (Whiteside would record 8 blocks total). Still, Okafor didn’t look completely disinterested on defense, tallying 3 blocks himself and collected 9 defensive rebounds (11 boards total). That’s the kind of effort the Sixers need to see from Jah, and the offensive nights will be even better when he’s not up against one of the top defensive centers in the league.