For the second straight game, the Sixers had a golden opportunity to earn their first win, but coughed it away down the stretch. On Saturday against the Heat, they led by 19 at points, but lost 96-91. Last night in Minnesota, facing a Minnesota team that had lost 14 straight home games, the Sixers jumped out to a 13 point lead before being outscored 11-4 over the final minutes, ending in a crushing 100-95 loss. One of the most baffling stats comes with the game in the closing minutes. Jahlil Okafor scored 19 points before the half, but only had six in the third and fourth quarter combined. As the fourth quarter began to wind down, the Sixers just couldn't get the ball to him. Over the last 4:58 of game action, Okafor didn't record a field goal and after leading 89-84 with over five minutes to go, the Sixers only scored six the rest of the way, compared to Minnesota's 16. Andrew Wiggins had 15 points in the fourth and 32 overall, making the pit in the stomach of Sixers fans even deeper.
There's no doubting that the team is inching closer to their first win, but the game against Minnesota was a good of a chance as they'll have with Boston, Houston and Memphis on the horizon. Following last night's 15th straight loss to begin the season, here's what Sixers and T'Wolves coaches and players had to say:
Brett Brown on Jahlil Okafor not getting the ball in the final minutes…
“I think we tried to look for him,” head coach Brett Brown said. “They did a good job of pressuring us and it was the way the game ended up. When we did get Jahlil the ball I thought we were static and slow. We tried to run with pace and we tried to find him as much as we could. We just were not able to close it out.” [CSNPhilly.com]
Nerlens Noel on sitting for the final 2:11 of the game…
“I don’t know, I’m not the coach,” Noel said.
“We were right there at the end,” Noel said as his voice drifted away. [CSNPhilly.com]
Jahlil Okafor on shots down the stretch, losing the game…
“Some of my teammates had good shots, they just missed,” Okafor said after his 25-point, 12-rebound effort. “I think that pretty much was it. We turned it over a little but and we had some shots that were makeable. We just didn’t make them.”
“That was not a moral victory,” Okafor said. “We had some pretty close games that we lost, so we are getting better. But we’re trying to win.”[CSNPhilly.com]
Brett Brown on the team moving forward…
“They have been great,” Brown said of his players. “We have been in games and we put ourselves in position to win. As I’ve said, I think we have taught them how to compete and the next layer is how to close out a game and win.” [CSNPhilly.com]
Minnesota head coach Sam Mitchell on Kevin Garnett's third quarter contributions…
“I just thought Kevin Garnett’s energy in that third quarter to start, defensively, offensively, made those three shots,” head coach Sam Mitchell said. “When the oldest guy on the floor is playing as hard as he is, our older guys kind of got our young guys going. Kind of teaching them how to lead the way and then from there Andrew kind of took over the game.” [Timberwolves.com]
Andrew Wiggins on the Kevin Martin three-pointer that made it a 96-91 game, the win…
“It definitely did,” Wiggins answered after being asked if it felt good to get the assist to Martin. “As soon as he was open I didn’t hesitate to pass it, you know, it’s K-Mart. That’s what he does. As soon as it left his hands I knew it was good.”
“Now that we got that first win, I feel like the they can keep piling up now,” Wiggins said. “We opened the door for it.” [Timberwolves.com]
Sixers guard Tony Wroten hints his return date…
Just wanna help my team. In do time tho. My time coming. 12/11 #Seven_Six
— Tony Wroten (@TWroten_LOE) November 24, 2015
The Sixers travel to Boston for a matchup with the Celtics on Wednesday night.
