Sixers Searching for Late-Game Composure After Letting Wins Slip Away
CAMDEN, N.J. - The Philadelphia 76ers are at a crossroads. After back-to-back losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers, including a gut-punch of a collapse in the fourth quarter on Friday, the Sixers are now 22-18.
That record isn’t terrible - but it also doesn’t tell the full story. If you've been watching this team closely, you know it could (and probably should) be better.
This isn’t about getting outplayed for 48 minutes. It’s about letting go of games they had in their grasp.
Friday night was a prime example: up 11 in the fourth quarter, and then the wheels came off. But that wasn’t an isolated incident.
This has become a pattern - one that’s costing them in the standings.
Look back at games against the Pistons, Bulls, Hawks, and Raptors. In each of those matchups, the Sixers held late leads.
And in each one, they walked off the floor with a loss. These aren’t blowouts or learning moments for a young, rebuilding squad - these are missed opportunities for a team with playoff aspirations.
So what’s going wrong?
“It’s the small details, honestly,” said forward Trendon Watford. “Small details like offensive rebounds.
It could be any little thing. Who we’re supposed to help off of, whoever.
I think we let Jaylon Tyson get a few 3s after being hot all game that we wish we could take back, and some things on offense that we wish we could do.”
Watford’s not wrong. In a league where margins are razor-thin, it’s often the little things - a missed box-out, a blown rotation, a poor decision in transition - that decide games. And the Sixers are learning that the hard way.
The good news? There’s still time.
A lot of it. The season is far from over, and the Eastern Conference standings are tight enough that a strong stretch can change everything.
But if Philadelphia wants to climb, it has to start closing out games it should already have in the bag.
That begins Monday night against the Indiana Pacers - a team that, on paper, the Sixers should beat. But paper doesn’t win games.
Execution does. And if this team wants to be taken seriously come spring, it needs to start finishing what it starts.