Los Angeles Clippers at Philadelphia 76ers Afterthoughts 2/10/12

Image courtesy of AP

Words can’t express how upset I am that the Sixers lost tonight. It was a game they should have won. Too many things didn’t go their way, but when it comes down to it, they lost the game themselves. They gave LA the chance to go up and Chris Paul capitalized, albeit while being defended extremely well by Andre Iguodala… but that’s Chris Paul for you.

The 78-77 loss was a heartbreaker for the Sixers, who had just regained hope after taking a 77-76 lead on two Lou Williams Free Throws off a Clippers turnover on the other end.

It seemed like that was the only time the Sixers were 2-of-2 on their foul shots, even though it wasn’t. They were 15-of-23 from the line, a key reason why they weren’t able to put LA away.

The final play that the Sixers ran was:

1. The worst final play I’ve seen them run all season and

2. A play that should’ve stopped a second in because it seemed like Lou Williams was heavily fouled. But I digress…

The worst part of this loss is that the Clippers shot 38.8% from the field. Abysmal. Yet they still pulled it off. Not because of the lack of defense on the part of Philadelphia, but because of the late-game heroics by Chris Paul, who is one of only a handful of players that could’ve made that final shot with the way Iggy was guarding him.

Iguodala, just recently named to his first All-Star Team, had 12 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. But the team’s shooting as a whole was almost as bad as LA. Lou Williams went 3-of-11 and Jrue Holiday went 2-of-8; the team shot 40.8%.

The game was about Chris Paul, and he made sure not to let Philly slip away with the victory. The final sequence was more about Philadelphia getting a break. Holiday could’ve tied the game at 76 had he hit both his free throws, but he missed the final one which resulted in the one-point deficit. After the Clippers called timeout in the inbounds and subsequently turned the ball over, hope was there and Lou hitting those free throws made the loss that much tougher when Paul just wouldn’t be denied.

It’s the first time the Sixers have lost two in a row all year. Collins admitted after the game that the final play was on him. He took full responsibility, which takes courage. I still love him to death and still think he’s Coach of the Year to this point… and as hard as it is to take in this loss, at the end of the day, it’s just another loss. The ones where you know you could’ve win hurt the most, though, and that was the case tonight.

Blake Griffin was held in check for the most part, with 16 points and 11 rebounds, a double-double night, but not a Griffin double-double night, so to speak. Former Sixer Reggie Evans exploded off the bench with 10 boards in 19 minutes. Just a quick side note, he’s a player ANY TEAM would love to have for, if nothing else, his heart. He went out there tonight and was 0-of-1 from the field. But he made sure to bring down the boards when it mattered most. But like I said, it was Paul who led them to victory. Not even Iguodala’s all-star defense could stop him from getting that game winner.

But a loss is a loss. No matter how upsetting, it is what it is and the Sixers need to recover quickly, because they travel to Cleveland tomorrow to take on the up-and-coming Cavaliers. It’s their first losing streak of the year, and the Sixers surely don’t need to extend it any more than this. Hopefully a trip to Cleveland for the start of a three-game road trip will be the end of this string of losses.

Lou said himself earlier in the season; one loss is a losing streak. So two losses would be a bump in the road. Three would be a slump, and that’s not something this team wants or needs. But the Sixers won’t let it come to that.

Or will they?