Sixers vs. Clippers Recap: Believe in The Plan™

I want the Sixers to lose games. Many, if not all, of you reading this want the Sixers to lose games. This is all understood to be part of The Plan™. The result of the Sixers-Clippers performance on Sunday night, therefore, was the desired result. This is a good thing.

The way it happened, though... well, let's just say that's a different story. I've had the luxury (?) of recapping the Sixers' games against the Heat (second one) and Pacers (in Indiana) this year. In both of those games, the Sixers were clearly outmatched, but they hustled and fought to make it as close of a game as possible. That's the perfect result. The Sixers' loss to the Clippers didn't quite follow that format. Lob City was in full effect.

The Clips were on the attack as soon as the game was underway. They jumped out to a blazing 13-0 lead and never looked back. After one, the score was 46-15. After two, it was 69-30. The Sixers' 39 point deficit was tied for the largest halftime deficit in the NBA over the last 20 years. After three, 100-51. And a final score of 123-78, which is a 45 point difference. It was the Clippers' biggest win in franchise history.

Don't get me wrong, tonight's game was highly entertaining, albeit in all the wrong (?) ways. It was hilarious to see how bad the Sixers are against a team who actually, you know, is good at this basketball thing. The Clippers can just be an all-around fun team to watch. Chris Paul is a magician and Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan throw down hard dunks like no other. This one Griffin dunk, courtesy of a "WTF" turnover by Michael Carter-Williams, perfectly encapsulated the Sixers' ineptitude on Sunday night.

If anything were to be learned from this loss, it's a reminder that this season largely doesn't matter. Other than two players (at most) currently on the active roster, none of these players seem to be significant in the long-term Plan. To work yourself up about these kind of losses just isn't worth it. Look, I won't blame you for feeling a little discouraged. In a short term context, it's a big, embarrassing loss. I get it. But it just doesn't matter in the long run. It's not like the Sixers weren't trying out there. It's just that they're not very good.

Games like this can test one's faith in the The Plan™. For now, pour one out for Brett Brown, power through it, and remember that the payoff will be well worth it one day.

Final Thoughts:

• NBA Trade Deadline Countdown: 3 games, 10 days. At Warriors, at Jazz, home versus the Cavaliers. So close, yet so far away.

• It was a good day for the tank. The Magic won, which means the Sixers are now in sole possession of the second worst record in the NBA at 15-37. Only the Bucks (9-41) are worse. The 45 point deficit by which the Sixers lost tonight moved the Sixers into the worst average point differential in the league at -9.6. The Bucks are -9.5.

• On a related note, how the hell did this team win 15 games?

• The Sixers are now 0-4 in games where I have recap duty, and 0-5 in games where I post at least the immediate reaction thread. You're welcome / I'm sorry.

• LB bloglord Michael Levin was at the game tonight. This is probably all of his fault. At least he seemed to have a fun time.

• Tony Wroten is far from a flawless player but his hustle was admirable tonight. Wroten didn't care that his team was down a billion points. The dude went to the rack HARD, because that's just what Tony Wroten does. He finished with a team high 21 points on 7-11 shooting.

• MCW showed some hustle too. He finished with 14-7-5 but shot 5-18 and committed 8 turnovers.

• Spencer Hawes: 23 minutes played, 0 points on 0-8 shooting, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 foul, -42.

• Evan Turner: 27 minutes played, 7 points on 1-8 shooting, 4 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, -43.

• Speaking of ET:

Wow! A Clipper fan yells to Turner "Hey Evan. You are weak. You're no good. And you can't get traded."

— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) February 10, 2014

• I liked  this tweet from Matt Moore.

This isn't a "so much blood" game. This is dexter. The Clippers drained and froze the body.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) February 10, 2014

• This is pretty great, too.

The Philadelphia Tankers / 76ers pic.twitter.com/CnBcId28SH (via @DaLIzMoBeta21)

— jose3030 (@jose3030) February 10, 2014

• Entirely unrelated to this game or basketball at all, today was a good day.

Up Next: Sixers at Warriors on Monday night at 10:30 PM EST. It's the second of a back-to-back and it's a very late start. The tank rolls on.

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