Not-Tanking Sixers Try Really Hard, Lose by 53

Philadelphia 76ers forward Nerlens Noel during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center.

On Thursday, Michael Carter-Williams wrote an essay in The Players Tribune, essentially a new professional-athletes-only blog, about the Sixers’ struggles. In the piece, titled “Don’t Talk to Me About Tanking,” Carter-Williams says the media has been too harsh on the team.

“Nobody took the losses harder than we did,” Carter-Williams wrote. “We deserved plenty of criticism, but we all put in too much work to be treated like a joke.”

After sitting out the start of the season with a shoulder injury, Carter-Williams returned to the Sixers lineup. So here is a recap of last night’s Sixers game: The absolutely not-tanking 76ers tried really hard last night in their game against the Dallas Mavericks. They lost by 53, 123-70.

The Sixers avoided tying the worst loss in franchise history on a late JaKarr Sampson three (assist, MCW!) and a a Carter-Williams dunk with three seconds left. Carter-Williams scored 19 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and dished 5 assists. Fellow 2013 first-round draftee Nerlens Noel scored 5 points and had 7 rebounds. Both tried very hard, as the Sixers usually do.

The Sixers trailed at halftime, 73-29, but were as close as 2-0 and 4-2 at one point. The Sixers won the third quarter by two points. In the old Contintental Basketball Association, that means the Sixers would pick up a point!

“The only positive I can find out of it is that Michael Carter-Williams returned and played an NBA game with Nerlens,” Coach Brett Brown said postgame, “And both of them had a chance to increase their cardio work playing basketball games, because they haven’t done that in a while.”

The Sixers play again tonight in Houston against the Rockets. They are 0-8.

[The Players’ Tribune | CSN Philly]