Philly Sports Jabronis
A loss typically hurts the most when it comes despite a determined effort. Wednesday night’s 99-91 defeat at the hands of the Brooklyn Nets is testament to that truth.
The Sixers twice battled back from more than 15 points down, overcoming a 20-point deficit in the second quarter to make in an eight-point game at halftime and battling from 17 down after a disastrous start to the third quarter to take a two-point lead with just over 10 minutes to go in the final frame.
After nine minutes of back-and-forth basketball, the score stood at 91-89 Brooklyn with less than a minute left. Unfortunately for the home team, an 8-2 run down the stretch iced the game in the Nets’ favor, dropping the Sixers to 0-15 on the season.
“The game had so many mood swings, didn’t it?,” Sixers head coach Brett Brown said after the game. “I thought we played some of our best basketball of the year and also some of our poorest. The mood swings and the score reflected that.”
Certainly Brown and his players were disappointed that they did not leave with a win to give thanks to during Thanksgiving dinner the following evening, but the common thread from all who spoke after the game was one of optimism and of pride in the team’s effort.
“[Reflecting] after the game, we thought we played well, to get back into the game when we were down [double figures],” said rookie big man Nerlens Noel. “I thought we came out here and showed our resilience.”
Philadelphia’s comeback effort was sparked partially by 18- and 14-point games off the bench for K.J. McDaniels and Hollis Thompson, respectively. Thompson went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and McDaniels ignited the crowd with a handful of highlight reel plays.
“[Strong bench play] is really important. The starters, you know, they’re tired, and it’s our job to bring excitement and bring energy to the game. That’s what I’m here for, even if I’m not starting” said McDaniels. “After [some big plays] the crowd got into it, the bench got into it, it turned all the players up, and we just have to keep building off of that like we did tonight.”
Behind The Numbers: 13
The Sixers pulled down 13 offensive rebounds compared to just four for the Nets. All five of Brandon Davies’ boards came on the offensive end.
Behind The Numbers: 82.9%
The Sixers currently sit last in the league in free-throw conversion percentage (64.9%), but over their last two games have gone 34-of-41 (82.9%) from the line.
Top Performers
• Tony Wroten – 18 points (6/18 FG, 6/8 FT), 10 assists
• Hollis Thompson – 14 points (5/7 FG, 4/6 3P), 4 rebounds
• K.J. McDaniels – 18 points (7/15 FG, 2/5 3P), 6 rebounds
• Henry Sims – 12 points (6/13 FG), 9 rebounds
Up Next
The Sixers return to action on Saturday when they host the Dallas Mavericks at 7pm. Philadelphia will look to avenge a 53-point loss in Dallas suffered on November 13.
