The 76ers faced off against the Timberwolves in Minnesota Wednesday, looking for their second road win of the year, but instead would lose their 9th straight away from the Wells Fargo Center. Philadelphia would be without Carter-Williams for yet another game because of his knee infection. After a promising first half, the Sixers completely fell apart in the second half, losing 106-99 in a game where they held a 19 point lead.
The Sixers started out great on offense, taking and making smart shots. 10 of their first 19 points came off the fast break. Philadelphia's reserve players, led by James Anderson, exploded against the Timberwolves starters at the end of the 1st quarter. In the final 3:00 minutes the 76ers scored 16 unanswered points to give them a 39-20 lead going into the 2nd quarter. Philly shot lights out, hitting 17 of 22 (77.3%) shots in the opening period, but the second quarter was a different story as the Sixers missed their first 8 shots and went scoreless for the first 5 minutes. A 3 pointer by Turner would get them back on track. The Sixers led the Timberwolves 61-48 at halftime. Turner led the Sixers with 13 points and Minnesota was led by Kevin Love's 15 points at the break. Philadelphia shot 62% and hit 6 three-pointers in the first half but did commit 13 turnovers.
The second half would be very different for the Sixers as they completely self destructed. Within the first minute of the 3rd quarter, Brett Brown called a timeout as he did not like the energy he saw from his team. Unfortunately, the timeout would not help as the Sixers started the 3rd much like the 2nd, turning the ball over and missing shots. This allowed the Timberwolves to put together a 17-2 run (starting in the 2nd) to cut the game to 3 points. Three of Philly starters (Thompson, Young, and Wroten) picked up their 4th fouls in the 3rd, forcing Coach Brown to rely on his bench against the surging Timberwolves. Minnesota finally tied it up at 78 with a 3 from Rubio but Hawes was able to answer right back with a 3 of his own. The Sixers led 81-78 after the 3rd quarter. The Timberwolves took their first lead of the game 3 minutes into the 4th quarter erasing the 19 point lead the Sixers once held in the first half. WIth 4:00 remaining, Philly found themselves down by 5. Minnesota ran away with it in the final minutes, giving more effort and playing better defense than Philadelphia. The 76ers would lose another one on the road, 106-99.
The Sixers shot very well (52.7%) but were doomed by their 26 turnovers, twice as many as Minnesota. The Wolves outrebounded the Sixers 45-37 with 17 offensive rebounds giving them too many second chances on offense. Minnesota also hit 25 of their 29 attempts from the foul line. Philly was outscored 58-38 in their awful second half.
Wroten and Hawes both scored 20 for the 76ers. Hawes also added 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Thad Young and James Anderson both added 16 points. Evan Turner went scoreless in the second half as he looked terrible, finishing with an unacceptable 9 turnovers. Turner also contributed 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Kevin Love filled up the stat sheet as he led Minnesota with 26 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Ricky Rubio scored 21 and added 7 assists and 3 steals. Pekovic finished with a double-double, 20 points and and 10 boards.
The Sixers have played terribly as of late and it obvious they are missing MCW, but even he can't fix everything. The 76ers (7-16) have lost 4 straight, and 12 of their last 15 games. Their next matchup is against the Raptors in Toronto on Friday.
By: Matt Ryan
The second half would be very different for the Sixers as they completely self destructed. Within the first minute of the 3rd quarter, Brett Brown called a timeout as he did not like the energy he saw from his team. Unfortunately, the timeout would not help as the Sixers started the 3rd much like the 2nd, turning the ball over and missing shots. This allowed the Timberwolves to put together a 17-2 run (starting in the 2nd) to cut the game to 3 points. Three of Philly starters (Thompson, Young, and Wroten) picked up their 4th fouls in the 3rd, forcing Coach Brown to rely on his bench against the surging Timberwolves. Minnesota finally tied it up at 78 with a 3 from Rubio but Hawes was able to answer right back with a 3 of his own. The Sixers led 81-78 after the 3rd quarter. The Timberwolves took their first lead of the game 3 minutes into the 4th quarter erasing the 19 point lead the Sixers once held in the first half. WIth 4:00 remaining, Philly found themselves down by 5. Minnesota ran away with it in the final minutes, giving more effort and playing better defense than Philadelphia. The 76ers would lose another one on the road, 106-99.
The Sixers shot very well (52.7%) but were doomed by their 26 turnovers, twice as many as Minnesota. The Wolves outrebounded the Sixers 45-37 with 17 offensive rebounds giving them too many second chances on offense. Minnesota also hit 25 of their 29 attempts from the foul line. Philly was outscored 58-38 in their awful second half.
Wroten and Hawes both scored 20 for the 76ers. Hawes also added 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Thad Young and James Anderson both added 16 points. Evan Turner went scoreless in the second half as he looked terrible, finishing with an unacceptable 9 turnovers. Turner also contributed 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Kevin Love filled up the stat sheet as he led Minnesota with 26 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Ricky Rubio scored 21 and added 7 assists and 3 steals. Pekovic finished with a double-double, 20 points and and 10 boards.
The Sixers have played terribly as of late and it obvious they are missing MCW, but even he can't fix everything. The 76ers (7-16) have lost 4 straight, and 12 of their last 15 games. Their next matchup is against the Raptors in Toronto on Friday.
By: Matt Ryan
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