The Philadelphia 76ers (35-28) hosted the New Orleans Pelicans (38-25) to begin a gauntlet of tough matchups. The Sixers played one of the worst halves of basketball any team has played this season and then sat up for the second half to give the Pels a huge scare. They lost 103-95 in a chaotic basketball production.

Let's break down another brutal Sixers loss.

76ers player notes:

Tobias Harris: 21 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 9-19 FG shooting

After one of his most disastrous performances of the season, Harris was a total no-show in the first half before playing a really nice second half. He got beat time after time by finesse, not power, against the Pelicans' jumbo-sized star, contributing to a maddening performance on defense. Although he collected a good amount of stocks, he conceded far too many blow-bys to label his defensive game impressive overall.

His shooting from the field wasn’t as terrible as previous stinkers but was pretty bad for much of the game. It felt like he missed almost every shot attempt that could have punctuated a run and got the crowd going. A major second-half turnaround, which he achieved by muscling his way to the paint, gave the 76ers life.

Kelly Oubre Jr.: 20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 7-18 FG shooting

Oubre discussed disappointing the city after the 76ers' consecutive losses to bad teams. He played with heart, backing up his desire to make the team respectable despite the absence of its starts. Elevated to the starting lineup, he continued to spam drives of varying success (often little). It speaks to how depraved of scoring talent the Sixers are right now that a game like this from Oubre is looked at so fondly.

Pelicans player notes:

Zion Williamson: 23 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals, 7-14 FG shooting

Williamson led the Pelicans in their running of the score sky-high. He played like he knew he was so much bigger and springier than everyone who stood in his way, charging ahead and fighting for rebounds. This game belonged to him from start to finish.

Game recap:

A massive stretch for the 76ers began tonight against the Pelicans, their first of 13 games in their next 15 that come against a team with a winning record. All of their closest neighbors in the standings have an easier remaining schedule than they do (besides the Indiana Pacers, whose schedule is just barely tougher in terms of opponent strength but does also feature two fewer games). The near-full-strength Pelicans were a tough matchup for any team, let alone a team that struggles with interior physicality.

Tyrese Maxey remained sidelined — though he is making progress and got a pregame workout in — along with Joel Embiid, De'Anthony Melton and Robert Covington. Nico Batum was also out and Mo Bamba returned to the starting lineup over Paul Reed.

1st half

The Pelicans stuck All-World defender Herb Jones on Harris, a sign that he's still regarded as the 76ers' top threat despite his woeful stretch. Harris matched up with Williamson while Oubre started on Ingram. New Orleans' size earned plenty of paint shots and kick-out threes, though the Sixers looked to prioritize group rebounding, minimizing the damage. Williamson had a very easy time getting a step on Harris, keeping him on his hip before making his move.

Reed subbed in for Bamba after less than five minutes, the first player to come in from the Philly bench. He showed his worth right away with a pair of consecutive offensive rebounds and later hitting a mid-range jumper. The Sixers' offensive rebounding was really good but they were unable to finish off the second chances. The Pelicans jumped out to a 12-point lead after just eight and a half minutes. It became 18 just a few minutes later, and then eventually 21 at the quarter's conclusion.

Jeff Dowtin Jr. made a first-quarter appearance and started the second quarter. New Orleans' 2-3 zone defense flummoxed an already hapless offense, earning some early boos. Williamson continued to dominate the paint. Naji Marshall had Midas shot release, as everything he let fly turned to gold. A wide-open triple from KJ Martin hitting nothing but air brought out even fiercer boos.

The 76ers committed some mistakes — plenty of turnovers and bad passes, specifically — but their effort wasn’t as dismal as the 35-point deficit they had accumulated would indicate. They moved the ball, crashed the glass and stayed sharp on defense. But the talent disparity on top of a frigid shooting night from Philly and a red-hot shooting night from New Orleans made this game a laugher early. Sure, that talent allowed for better shots and defense on the Pels' side but there was some shooting variance at play, too.

Even if the Pelicans weren’t in a major groove, they still would have dominated all the same. The Sixers just had no consistent answer to force the defense to scramble. The Sixers were able to get some buckets in the paint through aggressive drives and, like, the luck of some four-leaf clovers.

At the half, the 76ers trailed 66-34. But then, Philly got a huge break when a New Orleans triple was overturned. 63-34 at the half, it is.

2nd half

The 76ers tried their darnedest to put the pressure on the Pelicans. Lowry drew a charge amid a solid stretch of defense to start the third quarter. They still came up empty on offense a lot, even on a 3-on-5 fast break. Yes, with two Pelicans trailing the play, Oubre dribbled right to where Bamba was and the advantage was lost. At least Buddy Hield made his first shot of the night after six misses to cut the deficit to 22.

Nurse called timeouts to retain possession amid a hectic sequence and to challenge a foul call on Bamba. A timeout just seconds earlier from Willie Green slowed down what was already a game everyone else in the building wanted to get over. Nurse's challenge was successful, giving him another timeout to use to stop the game at a future point.

The Sixers eventually cut the deficit down to 16 points after their defensive efforts finally started paying off. The Pelicans' offense had gone ice cold with Bamba providing solid resistance at the rim and the jump shots careening out. Lowry took another charge and got toppled over by Larry Nance Jr. to force another NOLA turnover.

Oubre struggling to contain Williamson and Hield being an overall negative presence on defense stalled the Sixers' comeback. Putting Martin in at center with Zion starting to find a groove also didn’t help. The Pelicans led by 23 heading into the fourth quarter.

The 76ers tried to get mismatches for Harris in the post but, surprise, their inability to make an entry pass hurt them. However, their press defense gave the Pelicans some trouble, munching away at their time on the shot clock. They did a nice job protecting the rim, with Harris making great rotations from the corner to help out Reed. No. 12 scored a layup that made it a 10-point game. The crowd stuffed their boo birds away and came alive as Philly looked to pull off the near-impossible.

Just as Oubre came cutting down the lane, looking like he would spike a dunk that cut New Orleans' lead to single digits, Williamson wiped it away with a remarkable block. Oubre eventually hit a three to cut the deficit to nine but just over two minutes remained. A Nance dunk got it back up to 11 before Reed hit a clutch three, assisted by Harris. A Harris layup followed. Six-point game.

Williamson sprung for another layup. Then Dowtin nailed a pull-up three. Jones hit a corner triple and swooped in for the defensive rebound that sealed the deal.

Random tidbits:

  • PA announcer Matt Cord only saying “Mo Bamba, No. 5” when referring to him is why he's the best.

The 76ers will face the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden on Sunday.