Feb 24 2009
Harris’s half-court heave sinks Sixers
In the time it took you to read this sentence, Devin Harris could have beaten the Sixers three times. After Andre Iguodala sunk his second free throw to give the Sixers a one-point lead with only 1.8 seconds left, there was no chance that the Nets could win, right? New Jersey had no timeouts and was inbounding the ball from under their own basket. The only way that Philly would lose is if there was some crazy buzzer-beater. Mr. Harris, that’s your cue.
Harris received the inbound on the left sideline an took a dribble. Then Iguodala appeared to knock the ball out of Harris’s hands, and the ball hit Iggy and bounced back into Harris’s hands. Harris immediately planted his right foot and launched a shot. The buzzer sounded while the ball was in flight and the ball magically found its way into the basket. Initially, the basket was waived off and the Sixers had a 96-95 win. However, after reviewing the shot for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the referees reached a unanimous decision that the basket was actually good, giving the Nets a miraculous 98-96 victory. Obviously, the Sixers are furious, but there’s really nothing that can be done now since every source that has watched the replays has concluded that Harris’s shot went off before time expired. While the Sixers can blame the refs for the loss, I think they should also blame themselves for their awful foul shooting. If you only hit 23 of your 37 free throw attempts and lose by two points, I think you deserve a large chunk of the blame for losing since shooting 26-for-37 (70%) from the foul line would have given you a win.
It’s not like losing in the final seconds is anything new to the Sixers. This was the eighth time this season Philly was beaten in the closing seconds of the game, and it’s the second time that it was done by the Nets. New Jersey has won all three meetings with the Sixers this season.
Harris led the Nets with 39 points, eight assists, two rebounds, two steals and a block. With the exception of Harris, the Nets didn’t get (or need) much else on offense. Vince Carter added 10 points, five rebounds, and three assists, but no other starter reached double figures in scoring. Keyon Dooling, who scored 16 points off the bench, was the only other notable offensive player for the Nets.
All five Sixers reached double figures in scoring, led by Iguodala, who had 21 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and a steal. Andre Miller (17 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds) and Samuel Dalembert (13 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks) each had double-doubles, while Thaddeus Young and Willie Green each poured in 14 points. Louis Williams added 10 points off the bench, and rookie Marreese Speights chipped in five points, including a 10-footer with 26.4 seconds to go that gave Philly a 94-93 lead.
With the loss, the Sixers have lost four straight to remain winless after the All-Star Break. They also dropped their record to 27-28. Just think that if the Sixers were on the right side of their eight heartbreaking losses, they’d be the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. Instead, they’re seventh. Hopefully they’ll be able to snap their skid tomorrow night when they travel to Washington to take on the hapless Wizards. However, nothing seems to be guaranteed with the Philly this year.
Go Sixers.
