The Philadelphia 76ers finally ended two weeks of revealing basketball on Feb. 10 against the Los Angeles Clippers. Sixers fans like myself were uncertain how the team would fare weeks ago against seven straight elite teams. But after the Sixers beat four of the first five winning clubs, all seemed pretty good in Philadelphia - until the last two games.
Losing to the San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 8 was excusable. However, dropping a last-second 78-77 defeat to the Clippers truly put a damper on this two-week run. The Sixers could have ended this stretch at 5-2 and looked quite impressive, yet finishing it at 4-3 with the first two-game losing streak of the season carries a bit of an asterisk.
The way that the Sixers lost was especially painful, given how ugly the game was and how the Clippers won despite 38.8 percent shooting. Philadelphia started out guns blazing with 27 points in the first quarter and a nine-point lead, then didn't score more than 18 points in any other quarter. This wasn't a game that would have been solid on the Sixers' resume even if they won, but it would have been better than losing it.
A lack of rebounding really cost Philadelphia in the final minute, as Los Angeles's last two scoring possessions came after getting offensive rebounds. The last one ended with Chris Paul draining a tough shot over Andre Iguodala with over three seconds left, as the East's All-Star reserve couldn't quite stop one of the West's All-Start starters. Paul was the only one to score more than 16 points for the night, as his 24 and his last-second winner proved again what a difference maker he is for the Clippers.
As for the Sixers, escaping this seven-game run with a 4-3 record looked much better weeks ago. However, it now looks much more disappointing after losing twice in a row when a 5-2 or even a 6-1 record was in reach. That would have really shown how Philadelphia was ready to be a force in the Eastern Conference, yet it started hot and ended without as much gas - which hopefully won't be a metaphor for the rest of the season.
This was a successful stretch for the Sixers although it could have been much better. The four wins over the Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks and Los Angeles Lakers fueled a lot of hope, yet the blowout loss to the Miami Heat on Feb. 3, the closer loss to the Spurs and the gut-wrenching defeat to the Clippers served as a bit of a reality check.
Therefore, perhaps Philadelphia really didn't prove who it really was in this run, as we still don't know if it is more of a rising contender or a pretender in the long term - and now we may not know for some time.
Robert Dougherty is a life-long Philadelphia resident and 76ers fan.
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