The Philadelphia 76ers were in a good position. They were right there leading the fully healthy Los Angeles Clippers 87-80 with 7:04 left in the third quarter and were feeling pretty confident.
Then, the Clippers ripped off a 28-9 run and led 108-96 after three and Philadelphia was not able to put on a strong enough rally in a 136-130 loss. It’s a tough one to swallow considering how well they played the other three quarters and that’s what stings the most about this one.
“The third quarter kind of hurt us,” said Tobias Harris. “We had too many empty possessions in a row and we didn’t convert on good shots. They ran out and were able to convert offensively. The couple of mistakes in the third quarter hurt us.”
Philadelphia had a chance there, but they did not close the quarter strong enough.
“They stood us up,” said coach Brett Brown. “They got us on our back heels. I thought we had a hard time trying to find the rim, it was really our only blemish, that third period…I give our guys credit for how we responded. We didn’t roll over and I thought we had three excellent periods…I give them credit. We’ve got to play a little bit lower, we’ve got to play a little bit more downhill, and expose some fouls versus that kind of pressure.”
Brett Brown on went wrong in the 3rd quarter today #Sixers pic.twitter.com/KQlb6lIAME
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) March 1, 2020
It was a tall task to ask this team to come into Staples Center down both Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid and come out on top, but they were right there. They had a chance in this one despite being down two of the best players in the league and being on the road.
“I just tremendously respect their effort,” said Brown. “That was a team environment. It was a team mentality. We needed every inch of that in order to be in the game, and in the game we were…I respect the way they handled tonight.”
They will need to keep the same effort and energy on Tuesday. This does not get any easier as they take on LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night at the Staples Center. [lawrence-related id=26891,26883,26876]