Third-quarter woes seal another loss
RAPTORS 119, SIXERS 103
PHILADELPHIA >> Brett Brown pinpointed a spot in the third quarter as one of those coachable moments, when — with a little finessing — he could tilt the game back into his team’s favor.
In short order, the 76ers had given up two buckets and Brown responded with a 20-second timeout. What followed, not six seconds later, was a Sixers turnover.
It was one of those nights. Of course, there have been quite a few of them in the first three weeks of the season.
Toronto breezed past the 76ers, 119-103, Wednesday night with a dynamic showing from Luis Scola. The veteran big man had 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting in the third quarter alone, and finished with 21 points. Scola scored three fewer points than did the Sixers in the third.
“It’s a problem. We’ve talked about it. We can’t arrest it,” said Brown, whose team has outscored the opposition only once in the third quarter this season. “You try to put out fires all over the place. All over the place, you’re trying to find ways to be competitive and ways to score.”
The outburst from Scola helped the Raptors turn a six-point halftime lead into a 19-point rout heading into the final quarter. Villanova product Kyle Lowry added 23 points for the Raptors (63), who ended a three game losing streak. Lowry punctuated the end of the second quarter with a dagger of a 3-pointer.
“That didn’t said.
“It’s simple,” said Sixers point guard T.J. McConnell. “We start out slow in the third quarter and that’s what kills us. What people don’t realize
help,” Brown is the way we end the second quarter carries over into the way the third quarter starts. Kyle made a big shot and it carried over. We were right there with them. They’re a good basketball team. We can’t make any excuses.”
Sixers rookie Jahlil Okafor turned in his fifth 20-point game, matching a career-best outing with 26 points. At the defensive end, particularly when it comes to rebounding, Okafor is proving that he’s still a 19-year-old with much to learn. He had seven boards, and the Sixers were outrebounded, 56-37, by the visitors.
“The young man score,” Brown said.
McConnell had a careerbest 13 assists for the Sixers, who are still in search of their first victory. Counting the
can end of last season, they’re on an 18-game slide that dates back to March 25.
Hard-pressed to beat the division-leading Raptors to begin with, the Sixers (0-8) rested Nerlens Noel for a second straight game with what they’re calling sore wrists. By rule, an NBA team must have eight players available for a game. The Sixers dressed nine. For a team carrying a 16-man roster, given their recent roster exception, it’s almost hard to fathom how few healthy bodies the Sixers possess.
“But here we are. We move on,” Brown said.
The Sixers squandered their finest first-quarter performance of the season. They tossed up a 34-spot in the opening 12 minutes of the game to stake a 34-29 lead. In that frame, Okafor was on fire, converting on all but three of his eight shot attempts for 10 points.
Then the Raptors decided to show up.
Dwane Casey’s crew shot 68.2 percent from the floor in the second quarter to take the lead permanently. The Raptors lost none of that luster after halftime, firing at a 62-percent clip, fueled by Scola’s big performance.
In the second and third quarters, Toronto shot 28for-43 from the floor.
“Coach pointed out
that they’d probably do a great job running with the ball, having good pace, and keeping the ball moving,” Okafor said.
Those two quarters, coupled with the lack of healthy bodies available to Brown, sealed the Sixers’ fate. Even the healthy ones weren’t performing at the top of their game. Nik Stauskas, who shot 2-for-7 from 3-point range, is shooting a woeful 25.5 percent (11-for-43) from long range over his last four games.
It was one of those nights,
TWO THUMBS UP
■ On offense, Jahlil Okafor like a seasoned vet. ■ Luis Scola had a field day the third quarter.
TWO THUMBS DOWN
plays
in ■ On defense, Jahlil Okafor has much to learn. ■ Nik Stauskas is heat check.
in a five-game
●●● NOTES >> The Sixers sat Richaun Holmes (strained hamstring), a probable starter who suffered an injury in pregame, and Robert Covington (sprained right knee), who missed his fifth consecutive game. Afterward, Brown said it was unlikely that Covington would travel for the team’s weekend roadtrip. … Toronto went without DeMarre Carroll (plantar fasciitis) and Terrance Ross (left thumb ligament damage). … The league’s schedule-makers did the Sixers no favors with this weekend’s back-to-back road slate, Friday at Oklahoma City and Saturday at San Antonio.