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Sixers lose frustrating nail-biter to Clippers in James Harden's return to Philly
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Ah man, that's a particularly hard loss to swallow. Dribbling is really hard you guys.
The Sixers fell 108-107 to the LA Clippers Wednesday night after leading for almost the entire night. Kawhi Leonard scored 17 points, including two and-1s in the final minute of the game to put the Clippers ahead.
Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 26 points, shooting 9-of-20 from the field but wasn't able to get the ball on the last possession of the game.
James Harden gave the Clippers 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting along with 14 assists and five rebounds in his return to Philadelphia.
Here are some thoughts from the Center.
First Quarter
- The boos for James Harden during the introduction of starting lineups were maybe not as loud as expected. That was not the case once the game got underway, as the arena let him hear it every time he touched the ball, which was often given he was bringing the ball up the floor.
- Kelly Oubre Jr.'s return to the lineup sure was a welcome one. Not only did he make three of his first four shots of the game, but he was the moving ball very well around the floor, and had two first quarter assists to show for it.
- Philly's defensive strategy early was to send delayed doubles at Leonard and live with the consequences. While Terrence Mann went 2-of-4 from three to start the night, it largely paid off. Leonard shot 0-of-4 in the first while the Clippers as a team shot 33.3% from the field as a team.
- After a hot start, the Sixers offense went rather cold. They were held to two field goals over the last 4:47 of the first. On top of that, Maxey missed five of his first six shots. Still, he was able to scoop in a layup before the buzzer to give the Sixers a 12-point lead after one.
Second Quarter
- Nick Nurse went back to his sub patterns from Sunday as Maxey opened up the second after playing the entire first. Those minutes started well for Philly, thanks in large part to Paul Reed. He scored their first four points of the quarter, grabbing an offense rebound off a blocked Buddy Hield three to finish the play. He blocked two shots in his first shift as well, swatting away a Paul George layup before checking back out.
- Meanwhile, it was a very up-and-down first half for Mo Bamba. His first two field goals of the night were really nice putbacks. He also denied George a poster by blocking him at the rim, but on the very next possession let Mann grab an offensive rebound over him. He took an awkward fall a few moments later and was favoring his right knee when he checked out of the game.
- The Sixers' offense went rather cold to close the second straight quarter. They only scored two field goals over the last 5:00 of the half, two tough pull-up jumpers over Leonard from Maxey. L.A. slowly chipped away, cutting the lead to four with a corner-3 just before the buzzer.
Third Quarter
- The momentum from the previous half trickled into the beginning of this one. The Clippers made their first four shots of the quarter to not just tie things up, but briefly take their first lead of the game.
- Philly responded to that initial burst well, and it was spearheaded by Bamba. He had another putback, as well as a block on Ivica Zubac, though the box score credited that block to Harris. Both Maxey and Kyle Lowry were able to get Bamba open looks in the dunker spot as well. Tonight ended up being Bamba's first double-double as a Sixer, and he reached it halfway through the third.
- For the first time all night, the Sixers ended a quarter somewhat strong. Maxey hit a couple more tough buckets, including a three that bounced off the rim and backboard in a very Kawhi fashion. Hield also hit his first two three-pointers of the night, that and a dribble-drive from him had the Sixers holding a four-point lead after three.
Fourth Quarter
- Some more really impressive baskets from Maxey to start the quarter as he lined up to play the entire second half. He opened the fourth with a pull-up in the midrange. He knocked down a three well behind the line and was one spin away from a hell of an and-1 on the next possession. His final shooting line for the night might not look great, but just about every basket he got to fall did.
- Philly opted for a very small lineup down the stretch, a lineup with Nico Batum and Harris as their tallest guys on the floor. That didn't stop Batum from picking up the ball handler full-court at times, even blocking a Harden layup attempt. Batum knocked down two rather large three-pointers from the corner down the stretch as well.
- The double teams got only more aggressive. Maxey was pretty much facing them once he crossed half court. He even slipped and fell down on an inbound, giving L.A./ the ball for free in their backcourt. Oubre turned the ball over on the very next possession trying to get the ball up the floor when he was stripped by George. Leonard hit a ridiculous up-and-under layup, plus the foul to retake the lead for the Clippers.
- This game truly never had a moment to breathe. The Sixers came right back down the floor and retook the lead off a deep three from Hield. Leonard followed that up with another impressive reverse layup, on which he got fouled again.
- The Sixers had 8.8 seconds for the last possession of the game, which ended with Leonard stuffing Oubre at the rim. They won the jump ball that wedgie caused, but Oubre took too long to get a shot up. Just a brutal one the Sixers let get away.
- The Sixers are back on the road to close out the month. They'll head to Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers Friday night. It was reported earlier today that Donovan Mitchell is set to return to the lineup for that contest.
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