On Tuesday, with a chance to win the game, Brett Brown drew up a play that ultimately led to the ball being in Hollis Thompson’s hands. It did not work, as he was met by DeMarcus Cousins and had the ball knocked out of his hands.
Brown and the Sixers found themselves in a very similar position on Sunday night in Cleveland. Trailing 87-86, Brown this time dialed up a play for Nerlens Noel to receive the ball and he would be the person determining the fate of the Sixers that night. Noel came close to putting the Sixers up, but rimmed the shot out and the Sixers lost 87-86.
Brief controversy ensued, however, when LeBron James called a timeout with over 2 seconds left. The timeout was called, but more time on the clock slipped away and despite Brown’s protest, it was not up for review. Cleveland avoided turning the ball over on the in-bounds pass, and the Sixers were left without another shot.
The ending had a bit of a surprising finish, not just because of the obvious unbalanced matchup of a bottom-two team in the conference, against the East’s second-best. It also was surprising because of the fact that when Timofey Mozgov scored to put the Cavs up by four with four to play, it would be their final bucket.
Robert Covington’s three less than 10 seconds later made it a one point game, and that’s where the scoring stopped. The teams went a combined 0 for 11 from the field down the stretch after Covington’s three. Kyrie Irving’s missed shot in the lane with 8 seconds left kept the door open for Noel and the Sixers. They attacked a limited Cleveland front court too, as Kevin Love left the game earlier with a back injury.
As the game ended, Marc Zumoff and Malik Rose each noted that the Sixers had their opportunities—included two missed free throws from Covington with about a minute left, and they certainly did. However, the loss still stung for Noel and some of the Sixers.
"I walked in the locker room and his (Noel's) head was down between two towels," Brown said. "We're in late March and we have 18 wins, but he hurts — and I love that. That whole group in there feels like we let one through our fingers on the road — and I love that."
