After Elton Brand committed the flagrant foul, which he will certainly be fined and possibly suspended for, with the Sixers up by 9 with 3:32 left in the game, it became obvious what was going to happen. The Sixers had been up by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter, but they would find a way to lose this game. If Sixers fans thought they were in Groundhog Day, don't be foolish. This wasn't the same as the previous heartbreaker to the Wizards. This was far worse.
With the game slipping away, I began to find myself wondering who would be the goat. The first candidate was Brand, who besides being partly responsible for JaVale McGee getting a career high in offensive rebounds (10), total rebounds (18), and being one point away from tying his career high in points (25), committed an incredibly foolish flagrant two foul that got him ejected from the game, and changed the momentum late in the 4th quarter.
But that was only the start.
Then Evan Turner, after scoring 6 straight for the Sixers in the final 45 seconds, including 4-4 from the line, missed two free throws that would have iced the game with 8 seconds remaining. Turner was shooting just a tick under 77% before those two attempts.
Then, the biggest mistake of the night went to Jrue Holiday, who finished the game shooting 3-12 from the field and committed 4 turnovers, when he fouled John Wall 40 feet from the basket on a desperation heave, sending the #1 pick to the line to tie the game with the clock stopped.
The overtime featured a classic "Thaddeus Young drifting off his man to rotate to a guy who didn't need help", which led to an Andray Blatche jump shot to put the Wizards up 1 with 24 seconds remaining. After redeeming himself with an offensive put back, Turner committed the final folly, absolutely losing Nick Young on the other side of the court, leading to Young's game winning three.
Who's the goat? Who cares. Right now, the entire team is.
Player of the game: Andre Iguodala, despite the criticism he'll take for missing the final shot.
Next up: @ Toronto, Wednesday, 7 PM Eastern.