The Philadelphia 76ers had the tall task of beating the Golden State Warriors without center Joel Embiid, attempting to sweep the season series for the first time since 2011. Besides Embiid, the Sixers’ other two centers, Boban Marjanovic and Amir Johnson, were also out with injury.
First, we need to congratulate Philadelphia 76ers general manager Elton Brand on pulling off that trade with the Clippers for Mike Scott and a couple nice throw-ins.
That is what it looked like in the second half as Scott provided what little offense the Sixers had in a 120-117 loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Scott, who is averaging 5.1 points on the season, poured in 18 second-half points while the Sixers normal offensive leaders were shut down when crunch time came.
Golden State held a five-point lead with 35.6 seconds remaining with Ben Simmons cutting the margin quickly to three on a drive.
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Thanks to a great defensive play by T.J. McConnell, the Sixers had the ball down by three with 19.3 seconds. Simmons was fouled and made the first and intentionally missed the second (a Brett Brown move sure to be debated), but missed the rim and Golden State got the ball back with a 119-117 lead.
Down by three, Tobias Harris stepped out of bounds with 2.1 seconds left to end the Sixers’ chances.
The Sixers played shorthanded but the Warriors were without Klay Thompson and key frontcourt reserve Kevon Looney and lost starter Alfonzo McKinnie in the first half, so they were not exactly at full-strength either.
Bottom line, the 76ers held a four-point lead with nine minutes to go but, outside of Scott, missed a ton of shots down the stretch.
The loss drops the Sixers to 40-23 on the season and still in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The Warriors are 44-19 and first in the Western Conference.
Last year, the Sixers held a 20-point lead at halftime against the Warriors at the Center and, in the second half, Golden State flicked them away like a bug. This time, the were up by 12 at the half, and it took four minutes and one second for the lead to be wiped out as the Warriors took a 72-71 lead. This time, the Sixers did not wilt, even rallying for a brief five-point lead, but Durant (28 points in first three quarters) was able to lead Golden State to a 93-90 lead into the final period.
In the second period, the Sixers’ offense was humming even though J.J. Redick and Jimmy Butler were both off their game. Jonah Bolden stroked a three-pointer as part of his nine first-half points (being covered by DeMarcus Cousins most of the time) and Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris ran rampant, combining for 34 first-half points as the 76ers held a 67-55 lead at halftime.
The Sixers were clicking from the start, bolting to a 17-9 lead. Kevin Durant and Steph Curry then combined for 22 points and the 76ers ended the first quarter with a 32-31 lead.
The Sixers committing 21 turnovers to just 13 for the Warriors was a key statistic.
Before the game, Joel Embiid and first-round pick Zhaire Smith each held a press conference.
Embiid said he went to the team when he felt sore knee soreness after the All-Star Game.
Having missed the past five games, he expects to play sometime next week.
Smith talked about how his weight went down to 164 pounds (he was listed at 199) after suffering a severe allergic reaction. After a lot of protein shakes, he now weighs 206 pounds and expects to, at the least, play the remainder of the G-League Delaware Blue Coats season.
Next up for the Sixers is a home game Tuesday with the Orlando Magic, who beat the Warriors last Thursday. Will Markelle Fultz sit on the Orlando bench for that game?