76ers Are Merely Putrid, Not Record-Breakingly Awful

Team ends losing streak at 26 games — tying, but not breaking, the old record.

Oh, thank God:

The 76ers snapped their NBA record-tying, 26-game losing streak, routing the Detroit Pistons123-98 on Saturday night to avoid establishing the longest skid in U.S. major pro sports history.

“It’s not something I want to be a part of,” 76ers guard Michael Carter-Williams said, “so it’s great that we got this win.”

Carter-Williams and Thaddeus Young each scored 21 points for the 76ers, who won for the first time since beating Boston exactly two months ago and did it impressively, leading by as many as 32 points. They also ended an 18-game home losing streak, which was one shy of another NBA record.

Now that The Streak is over, let’s just sit back and marvel: The 76ers already owned the record for fewest wins in a regular 82-game NBA season, set during that legendary ’72-73 season. Now they’re in the record book twice: Even that 72-73 team wasn’t so bad that it could lose 26 games in a row.

There’s been a lot of talk from the organization about how this is The Process.  But it’s a crappy process. It’s terrible for fans — and hey, who were the suckers who paid for season tickets this year, anyway? The 76ers have tanked so hard this season that there’s a fair chance the NBA will come up with new drafting procedures in order to prevent a similar recurrence in the future. Fine. It’s no fun to be a fan of a team that’s deliberately trying to be bad. We get enough badness in this town even when teams are trying to win. No more losing, Sixers. We have other things to do besides watch NBA basketball, you know.