The Philadelphia 76ers would have loved to do nothing more than to rub even more salt on James Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers' wounds after a rough past month or so. On Wednesday night, the 76ers were in a position to do so for much of the game, but in the end, Kawhi Leonard came up huge in historic fashion to hand Philly a soul-crushing 108-107 loss.
This 76ers defeat did not come without controversy. Despite the 76ers' late-game snafus, they still had a chance to regain the lead after Kelly Oubre Jr. knifed into the lane off a jumpball. Oubre, however, was met at the rim by Paul George, and it looked as though there was enough contact for the referees to call a foul on the Clippers star. Alas, they decided to swallow their whistles, much to the anger of Nick Nurse and Joel Embiid.
Now, upon further review after the game, referee crew chief Kevin Scott then revealed that George should have been called for an infraction, sending Oubre to the line for two shots and a chance for the 76ers to regain the lead.
“On the last play on the floor, in real time the crew interpreted that play as the defender jumping vertically. However, in post-game video review we did observe some slight drift to his left by the defender George, and a foul should have been ruled,” Scott said on the Pool Report, via Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints.
The 76ers bench was irate, protesting the no-call at the end. They had a chance to kill off all the good vibes the Clippers had built after Kawhi Leonard delivered for them in the clutch yet again, but now, more frustrations will mount on their end following a defeat of this nature.
76ers had all the answers, but broke down in the clutch
For much of the game, the 76ers were in control. They held Kawhi Leonard to a putrid shooting night (he was 5-17 before his crunch-time heroics), and every time the Clippers were throwing haymakers, they were retaliating with uppercuts of their own. Alas, the 76ers' late-game execution wasn't up to par, and it cost them.
With a minute to go in the game, the 76ers turned the ball over twice, with Tyrese Maxey slipping on an inbound play and Kelly Oubre Jr. unable to catch a pass cleanly after Paul George deflected the ball out of bounds off of him. Buddy Hield seemed to throw one last decisive retaliatory blow, but Leonard gave the 76ers some war flashbacks with what ended up being a game-winning and-one layup.
This set the stage for the 76ers' controversy-riddled final possession, which fans are decrying.
Philly fans are outraged
The 76ers are currently eighth in the Eastern Conference, and they're 1.5 games behind the Indiana Pacers for the sixth and final outright playoff spot. Thus, every win matters. So for them to lose in this heartbreaking fashion caused their ever-vocal fanbase to express how livid they were over the missed call.
“The officials need to start getting fined for stuff like this and make it public too!!!” one fan wrote. Another pointed out, “lololol not like every win matters right now or anything 🫠.”
All referees are humans, and all humans make mistakes, so therefore all referees make mistakes. But when the stakes are this high, the officials' decision-making must be spotless. It wasn't on this occasion, and 76ers fans are furious.
“The refs ruin so many games. Just brutal,” @76ed76er wrote. Added @lianna643703, “I guess they are blind or just had a bet on the Clippers.”
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