PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Los Angeles Clippers in James Harden's return to his former home arena. The tension in the arena was amplified in a wild, down-to-the-wire game that ended in a 108-107 defeat for the Sixers.
The Sixers led by 15 in the first half but failed to truly pull away from a Clippers team playing uninspired ball. Late in the game, a string of mistakes undid Philly's foothold. Tyrese Maxey's strong performance (26 points, eight assists, seven rebounds) will be mostly remembered for stumbling on an inbound pass, giving Amir Coffey a fast break that resulted in a shooting foul. Kawhi Leonard twice pierced the Philly defense for an and-one layup. And in the final moment of the game, Kelly Oubre Jr. took too long to get a good shot off.
Oubre got the chance to take the final shot after a scramble for a jump ball but didn’t release the shot in time, driving right at Paul George instead of pulling up for a jumper from the elbow. The 76ers wing fell to the ground before springing back up to join head coach Nick Nurse in criticizing the officials.
Sixers coach Nick Nurse and Kelly Oubre Jr. were FURIOUS that no foul was called on the final possession 😠
Clippers hold on for the win.pic.twitter.com/ZXEsTn9zcp
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 28, 2024
Nick Nurse, Kelly Oubre Jr. discuss officiating in 76ers' loss to Clippers
“Listen, I think he took it in there pretty hard,” Nurse said. “I looked at it on the screen, on our computer a couple of times. I thought there was certainly contact, certainly as much as the last two or three that got called and-ones at the other end. And that's all. I just thought it was enough contact to call. But that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
The referees admitting in the postgame pool report that George should have been called for a foul won't make the 76ers feel much better. While Nurse chewed out the officials, Oubre pointed and cursed at each one before being pulled away by Maxey. He apologized immediately in his postgame media availability.
“This is an intense basketball game of course. And, you know, we're not perfect. The refs aren't perfect,” Oubre said. “I wanna apologize for just losing my cool 'cause that's something I try to work on each and every day and try to represent God in the best way I possibly can. And that wasn't it.”
Oubre's ability to drive to the hoop and unshakable confidence often help the 76ers, whose offense can become stagnant when Maxey isn’t carrying the load. But in a split-second moment where more consideration for the clock was needed, it left Philly on a precarious ledge that the refs didn’t save them from falling off of. They made the wrong call, yes, but putting the balance of the game in the hands of officials is a roll of the dice that teams and players must try to avoid at all costs.
Oubre said that there was “absolutely contact” from George and echoed Nurse's point that the game wasn’t always called both ways. Seeing Nurse so intense, he said, inspired him to give the referees a piece of his mind.
“If our coach is gonna fight for us and he's going there, then I'm right behind him. But at the end of the day, it wasn't cool,” Oubre said, adding that he would accept any punishments handed down for his outburst.
The Sixers had defeated the Clippers in their place over the weekend, marking one of their best Joel Embiid-less wins of the season. This loss isn’t one of their worst but, given how much they had led by and how many opportunities they left on the table, it surely stings badly. The competitive fire was apparent and understandable for such a close game in which the Wells Fargo Center crowd was amped.
“What I make of it,” Maxey said when asked about Nurse and Oubre's heated moment, “is those two guys really wanted to win. They really wanted to win. Kelly played his tail off. Coach Nurse came up with a great game plan again and he coached his tail off. When you lose like that, it's hard. You become emotional. I was sad about us losing, too, so I understand it.”
Every 76ers loss only further entrenches them in the play-in games. After letting Harden come back to town and leave with a win, the Sixers have to pick up the pieces and try to get back in the W column.
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