The Philadelphia 76ers lost to the San Antonio Spurs 101-95. The Sixers had struggles with their shooting and defense. Turnovers were also an issue. While they made a push in the last minute to win the game, it was too much of a hill to climb.
The Brixers showed up in the first quarter. For an extended period of time, the Sixers shot 14.3 percent from the floor. They stayed relatively close in the game thanks to free throw shooting. They were 10 for 13 at the line. They trailed by as much as 9 points in the first quarter. Turnovers were an issue (like the regular season Sixers!) as they had 5 in the first quarter.
Shooting poorly and not taking care of the ball is a recipe for a blowout.
But, they ended the quarter on good terms. They bumped their field goal percentage to 42.9 and trailed 25-23. The turnovers were still an issue as they finished with 7. Wait, what? 7? That’s a lot for a 10-minute quarter.
The field goal percentage went up once the starters left the floor. The starting five were a combined 1 for 7 from the floor. Not good.
The second quarter saw the Sixers end up down by ten points at one point. Poor defense helped out this time. With 7 minutes left, the Sixers had committed 13 fouls. That’s one foul per minute. Not a good rate. As the quarter went on, we saw the Spurs shoot over 60 percent from the field. At the end of the quarter, they shot only 57.6 percent. That’s…better?
It was complicated for the Sixers. For their 10 turnovers, they had 7 steals. This shows signs of a sloppy game, honestly. It showed. A few times, a team would steal the ball, only to lose it to the other team a few seconds later.
The biggest difference between the teams was the Spurs simply were shooting better from the floor. Both teams had close number of attempts and makes from 3-point range. Both teams made three 3-pointers while the Sixers took two more attempts. The Spurs made 12 free throws to the Sixers’ 11. But, the Sixers took only 14 while the Spurs took 18. Again, the Sixers did a lot of fouling.
The Sixers took three more shots from the field overall but made three less field goals than the Spurs. Overall, being down 46-53 is actually not that bad for the half. If the Sixers just take care of the ball and defend better, they have a chance.
Yeah…right.
So, the Sixers actually started shooting better. During the 3rd quarter, their field goal percentage went up to 50.0. Still, they spent most of the quarter down by a range of 8-12 points. At one point, they were down by 15 points. To be honest, the second half was more of the first half. The Sixers really didn’t do much different.
The Spurs were pushed on by Bryn Forbes. He exploded for 35 points. He was 17 for 17 from the free throw line. It’s just…wow.
The Sixers were led in scoring by Aaron Harrison, who had 14 points.
