After a four-game Western Conference road trip, the Philadelphia 76ers returned to their home court for the first time in nine days. Ahead of their matchup, the biggest storyline surrounding the Sixers was the return of James Harden to Philadelphia, who was welcomed as one might expect.
There was no love lost between the former Sixer and the Philadelphia crowd. Boos rained down early and often from the home crowd every time that Harden touched the ball. Any time Harden committed a turnover, there were massive cheers. The atmosphere was as intense as a regular season gets, and the fans sat as involved as ever.
The game started off on the right foot for Philadelphia as Kelly Oubre and Tobias Harris both asserted their dominance offensively with physicality. Oubre, in particular, was aggressive but at the same time reserved, finding open teammates instead of his typical M.O. of lowering his head and charging.
In fact, Oubre has done a fantastic job in recent games, focusing on not only finding open teammates but also accurately getting them the ball. Coming into tonight’s game, Oubre has averaged 3.4 assists over his last five games, more than double his average on the season. His commitment to team ball should not be overlooked, and while he was far from a career-high in this game, his passing did play a role in the Sixers taking an early lead.
Philadelphia would finish the first quarter up 12, capped off by a special buzzer-beater by none other than Tyrese Maxey.
Come the second quarter, the Clippers began to adjust, refusing to allow the Sixers to run on the fastbreak while simultaneously finding their rhythm offensively. Forced to run the offense through the halfcourt, the Sixers struggled against LA’s lengthy defense and could not consistently score from the paint or from deep.
The Clippers began to dig their way back into the game and finished the half down just four.
In the second half, the Sixers experienced a sputtering back and forth of success and failure. Allowing the Clippers to take the lead early in the third, Philadelphia quickly responded with a 6-0 run, snatching back command of the game.
However, basketball is a game of runs, as the tired saying goes, and the two teams proceeded to experience a back-and-forth of runs, changing command of the lead in the process. Philadelphia’s final push saw a sorely needed renaissance from deadline acquisition Buddy Hield, who has recently been enduring one of the more brutal stretches of his career. Scoring the Sixers’ last eight points of the quarter, Buddy helps bring the lead back to Philadelphia heading into the fourth.
Speaking of the game’s final quarter, it had all the excitement one could expect from a vendetta game between two playoff contenders. Philadelphia began the action off on the right foot, scoring the first five points of the quarter, but with every punch they threw came a counter-punch by the Clippers.
As the game came down to the wire, the Sixers held just a two-point lead with under a minute left. In the waning seconds, the Sixers found themselves on the wrong end of a Kawhi Leonard circus shot three-point play (IYKYK) but were then seemingly saved by a ridiculously deep three by Buddy Buckets himself.
Unfortunately, the Clippers responded with yet another Kawhi Leonard circus three-point play (a bit too on the nose at this point), taking back a one-point lead with less than 24 left on the clock. Tyrese Maxey advanced the ball and drew a foul driving in the lane, which led to Philadelphia receiving the ball with nine seconds left.
A controversial finish
A Kelly Oubre drive against Kawhi Leonard, which was almost certainly not the play drawn up, resulted in a block wedged against the rim, led to a jump ball, and with one more chance, Oubre was again denied at the rim by Kawhi at the buzzer, and LA would hold onto the win.
Oubre and Nick Nurse were both instantly irate believing that a foul should have been called against Clippers forward Paul George.
After the game, NBA referee Kevin Scott spoke with the Philadelphia Inquier’s Keith Pompey for the pool report on the of the closing seconds of the game. Upon further review, Scott determined that Paul, the defender, did not maintain his position during the contact and that a foul should have been called.
Not that it does Philadelphia any good now.
Up next for the Sixers
The Sixers will next head to Cleveland for a pivotal matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who currently sit third in the Eastern Conference. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m., and you can catch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia or on NBA League Pass.
