The Philadelphia 76ers had a chance to win it in regulation on Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies when Memphis star Ja Morant missed a free-throw that would have put the Grizzlies up by one with 8.1 seconds left.
Instead, Morant missed it and Seth Curry grabbed the board. Curry raced up court and he took a tough fadeaway shot that clanked off the rim which forced overtime tied at 111. The Sixers were able to eventually win it 122-119 in OT, but there was some controversy.
Coach Doc Rivers was irate that there was no foul called for Curry and he ran onto the floor at the officials. During the break between the fourth quarter and overtime, Rivers was called for a technical foul and Desmond Bane made it to give the Grizzlies a 112-111 lead going into the overtime session.
Afterward, Rivers said he didn’t say much to the officials to earn the tech.
“Nothing, really,” said Rivers. “Eric (Lewis) thought he should call a tech. He told me to stop, but I wasn’t talking to Eric anymore. I was talking to another ref and we weren’t going back and forth, we were talking and he just kinda interceded which I don’t think they should do. They’re big enough to take care of themselves, but I hate getting a tech there, honestly. It’s an awful tech to get.”
Despite the tech from Rivers and playing from behind immediately, the Sixers were able to get big plays from Andre Drummond, Tyrese Maxey, and Tobias Harris to close out the win.
“I don’t think we should touch on that last play, but just to start the game (overtime) like that, I think we just handled ourselves the right way,” said Drummond. “We didn’t allow that momentum to swing for us. We just played the game, played hard defensively, got the stops we needed to. Obviously, being down one out the gate, we just played hard. It doesn’t really matter how the game ended in regulation, it’s how we finished the game and we came out with a win.”
It helped the Sixers that they were able to lean on their veteran leaders. When Philadelphia got into a tough spot, they were able to get some good play from their veterans on the floor to be able to stick together.
“I thought we did a good job of just staying solid all throughout and being able to really be composed throughout everything that was going on in that game,” Harris laughed. “A lot of stuff was going on.”
Now, the Sixers will look to finish off a 5-0 homestand with a matchup with the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
List
3 teams who should give the Sixers a call about a Ben Simmons deal
