In the midst of an 82-game NBA season, anybody can beat anybody. That’s not just a cliché. We saw proof on Saturday night when the 43-4 Golden State Warriors needed a late Harrison Barnes three-pointer to vanquish the 7-41 Philadelphia 76ers.
Context is everything. As Rosie Perez once said in White Men Can’t Jump, “Sometimes when you win, you really lose.” And for evidence, just listen to some of what the NBA champs had to say after their narrow escape.
“If the gods delivered what should have happened, we probably should have lost, because that’s what happens when you mess around with the game and the ball,” Steve Kerr said.
“We probably definitely should have lost, and it was all my fault,” Draymond Green said. “I was selfishly unselfish, if you know what that means.”
On the flip side, the Sixers had to feel pretty good about themselves after taking a rested and healthy Dubs team to the limit. Brett Brown was asked after the game whether he believes in moral victories. He says that he doesn’t.
“It’s sort of the beauty of the job that we have, either you win or you lose,” Brown said. “I kind of like that. The good thing in our industry is that you get a chance to do it again in 48 hours. It’s almost an inverted compliment to our guys, you wouldn’t believe how quickly 20-year-olds forget.”
One game doesn’t change much. The Warriors are still the odds-on favorites to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy, and the Sixers are still the worst team in the league record-wise (although the Lakers will have something to say about that before the season ends). But what the Sixers can take away from the loss to Golden State is something they have largely been able to take away from the past month’s worth of games: They’re getting better.
“I feel like that they know we’re playing good basketball,” Brown said. “They know that they have a chance to come back, they’ve done it against someone that is 71-11 in their past 82 regular-season games.”
The numbers back up with Brown is saying. Since acquiring Ish Smith, the Sixers are playing the best basketball of the Brown-Hinkie era. This is the same script as last year, but the improvement is even more apparent:
| Net Rating | 2014-15 | 2015-16 |
| Pre-Christmas | -10.5 | -13.6 |
| Post-Christmas | -8.4 | -3.6 |
And in a way, Saturday’s effort against the Warriors was a microcosm of the season. The Sixers gave up 73 points and looked generally overmatched in the first half, but they clawed back into it with defense.
“That’s what coach said,” Smith said. “We just kind of knuckled up and just kind of grinded it out defensively.”
The Sixers are going to keep losing games. There will inevitably be some stinkers in there like last Sunday against the Celtics. But Brown and the coaching staff are doing good work lately with what they’ve been given. The players, who still have less talent than almost all of their opponents, are responding.
“For us, to be down 24 at home and find a way to not roll over, not be all caught up in the moment and give something back to our fans, who were fantastic, is a great thing for our young team,” Brown said.
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