Philadelphia 76ers @ Los Angeles Clippers - NBA Live Tracker
Clippers fall to 76ers and Joel Embiid after building a 20-point leadPHILADELPHIA — It was all there — the crisp passes, the elite shooting, the suffocating defense that infused the Clippers with an offseason belief they are championship-caliber. Just one problem. This was all here, too, for the Clippers in a 119-114 loss Friday inside Wells Fargo Center — the maddening inconsistency, the offensive malaise and an inability to string together a full game, problems that have become a more usual sight than glimpses of their full potential.
(Matt Slocum / Associated Press) They were brutally effective at times. And, the Clippers felt, they could have been put away. “We had our chances, we just didn’t play smart the whole game, ” coach Tyronn Lue said. “When we got up we made some key mistakes and some bad plays. ”Friday was the 10th game since Kawhi Leonard, who scored 28 points, and George returned from injuries together in a Dec. 5 win against Charlotte.
Against a Sixers defense that ranked second in the league at limiting opponents’ attempts from deep, the Clippers made 10 of their 19 three-pointers in the first half. But the final three minutes of the first half were ominous as their lead was cut to 12, reminiscent of the way, Wednesday night, Charlotte methodically cut a 36-point deficit to 14, a rally jump-started in the third quarter, when it outscored the Clippers by eight. The Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, who scored 28 points, shoots over the 76ers’ P. J.
“The challenge is doing that for a full game and that’s just, again, where we’re lacking. “We haven’t yet identified with that, I guess, persona for the team, a team that’s just going to finish you. ”George said as much after a loss at Oklahoma City in the season’s second week. Nearly two months later, what will it take to reach that breakthrough? “I’m not sure, ” George said. “We just have lapses. “I think we just got to approach the two halves as zero-zero. Hopefully that shift gets us playing a little faster, a little better, a little bit more intense, better focus because I think whether we won the games or not, we’ve been in these positions a lot — too many times this season.
It also made only four of its 14 three-pointers. Philadelphia turned the ball over only three times, but each was followed by a Clippers basket — a Norman Powell layup after a strip of Embiid, a George layup after he tapped the ball from Harden. John Wall was held out after spraining his right ankle for the second time in as many weeks — he is hopeful to play Dec. 26, in Detroit — but with the ballhandling handled by committee, the Clippers’ bench unit looked as sharp as it has all season. Reserves made nine of their 13 shots in the first half — an assist leading to every basket but one.
LA Clippers vs Philadelphia 76ers: Dec 23, 2022 - FOX Sports
”Philadelphia center Joel Embiid scored 10 of his 44 points in the fourth quarter as “M-V-P” chants echoed during his free throws with 11 seconds left. Guard James Harden not only scored 20 points but dished a career-high 21 assists, while adding 11 rebounds. In all, Harden was responsible for 67 points. The 76ers’ James Harden, left, and Joel Embiid celebrate after a second-half basket. Harden had 20 points, 21 assists and 11 rebounds for a triple-double.
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Leading by as many as 20 before halftime in perhaps their sharpest half of any game this season, against a Philadelphia 76ers team that had won six in a row, the Clippers instead turned what would have been their most impressive victory into a particularly notable missed opportunity. “We played the game the right way the first half, we played downhill, we played with pace, we defended — that’s just who we are regardless of who we play, ” said wing Paul George, who scored 22 points.
Sixers vs. Clippers History | Philadelphia 76ersThrough 137 total contests (including a first round playoff series in 1976 when the Los Angeles Clippers were still the Buffalo Braves), the Philadelphia 76ers hold a 76-62 advantage over this Western Conference team. It wasn’t until the 2010s, when Chris Paul and Blake Griffin helped the Clippers earn the nickname “Lob City”, that there was much national interest in this particular matchup. Now, led by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, it’s must-see TV any time the Clippers face off against Joel Embiid and the Sixers.
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