76ers vs. Grizzlies: Score, Highlights and Reaction from 2015-16 Regular Season
The Philadelphia 76ers entered the record books for all the wrong reasons yet again Sunday, this time for tying the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets for the worst start in NBA history (0-18) after their 92-84 loss against the Memphis Grizzlies.
In addition to tying the NBA's worst start to a season, the Sixers extended their record for the longest losing streak in major American professional sports to 28 games, dating back to last year, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Making matters even worse for the franchise, Philadelphia owns two of the three worst starts in NBA history, per Jeff Skversky of WPVI-TV:
Going even deeper into the sadness of Philadelphia sports right now, John Clark of CSN Philadelphia tweeted out a crazy piece of information regarding all professional teams in the City of Brotherly Love:
The 76ers players haven't quit, despite their futility, and even held a lead midway through the fourth quarter Sunday. But their inability to close games has become another source of misery. Philadelphia's last five losses have come by a combined 26 points, so the rainbow is in the picture—even if it is beyond the horizon. Derek Bodner of Philadelphia Magazine and Draft Express seems to see some light at the end of the tunnel for the Sixers.
The 76ers showed signs of life after halftime, surpassing their point total from the first 24 minutes (31) in the third quarter alone (36), and looked as though they were on the right path. Instead, a poor fourth quarter (17 points) ended in the history-making defeat.
Sixers point guard Isaiah Canaan did all he could to get the team over the hump with shots like this, per the NBA's official Twitter account:
Even though Canaan didn't have a great shooting day, hitting five of his 15 attempts, four of his made field goals were three-pointers.
Making matters worse for the 76ers, 2015 first-round pick Jahlil Okafor has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. He was reportedly stopped for speeding while driving 108 mph on the Ben Franklin Bridge three weeks ago, per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
That report came three days after TMZ posted a video claiming to show Okafor involved in a fight outside of a Boston bar and two days after Pompey reported a separate October incident in which the former Duke star reportedly had a gun pointed at him following an exchange of words outside a Philadelphia club.
Things have gotten so out of hand for Okafor that he decided to issue an apology on Twitter for his recent actions:
"I hold myself to a higher standard than anyone else ever could and I'm not proud of some of my decisions over the last few months. I own my choices both personally and now publicly. At this point I am cooperating and respecting the process I have to go through. Going forward I don't want to be a distraction for my team and am grateful for the support and guidance those close to me are giving. I am 100% focused on my responsibility to the League, my teammates and fans.
"
The Sixers drafted Okafor third overall and expect him to be a huge part of their future, but he has a lot of work to do off the court before becoming a consistent impact player on it.
The 76ers and Grizzlies combined for 51 turnovers and shot 40.5 percent from the floor in an ugly game Sunday. With the worst offense in the NBA, Philadelphia will likely have to win a similar battle to end its losing streak.
Former Nets assistant general manager Bobby Marks pointed out one major difference between this year's 76ers and the 2009-10 Nets:
This was the Sixers' reaction after the loss:
The Sixers' next game is at home Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers. As bad as Philadelphia has been this season, the Lakers had only two wins entering play Sunday.
Tuesday's matchup is going to be another ugly battle and may represent Philadelphia's best chance to enter the win column before 2016.
Post-Game Reaction
Before diving into what the 76ers had to say, Grizzlies star Mike Conley told reporters, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com), his team did not want to be the one that got Philadelphia in the win column.
"We did not want to be that team to (lose to the Sixers) because we'll be in the history books for that reason," said Conley. "The games are tough. You can only do wrong. They can do anything they want. They're just trying to do whatever they can to win."
Moving to Philadelphia's side of things, per the same AP report, head coach Brett Brown talked about what his team tried to do in order to beat a tough, physical Memphis squad:
"We knew if you were going to play halfcourt and get into a fistfight with these men -- and they're playoff-experienced men -- that doesn't favor us. If you can play with pace and play with space and avoid the fistfight, you knew you had the best chance of being in the game and stealing a win.
"
The 76ers did bring the fight to Memphis for most of the game, but they were undone by poor shooting and too many turnovers to make up for it. Young players have to go through a process before success arrives, so their strong showing, even without the win, is an encouraging sign.
