The Philadelphia 76ers lost their 25th consecutive game Monday against the San Antonio Spurs, pulling to within one defeat of matching the NBA record for most losses in a row set by the 2011 Cleveland Cavaliers.
Sure, that in itself is embarrassing. When it comes down to it, every professional athlete would prefer to win rather than lose, but you have to really wonder about the 76ers’ coming down the stretch. They could very easily lose out.
On Thursday, Sports Interaction’s NBA odds has the 76ers set as 20-point underdogs when they visit the Houston Rockets.
Philadelphia is just two wins better than the last-place Milwaukee Bucks and every NBA GM wants nothing more than to get their hands on the No. 1 overall entry draft pick. That way, you have your choice between Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker.
So what exactly is motivating Philadelphia to win right now?
Firstly, it’s not like they have a ton of talent to compete at this point anyway. Outside of Thaddeus Young and Michael Carter-Williams, they don’t really have much in the cupboard to go to. The Cavs’ youth is holding them back now, but could be their biggest asset a couple of years from now.
“If they’re putting that roster on the floor, you’re doing everything you can to try to lose,” former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy said a few weeks ago. “It’s embarrassing.”
Of course, the 76ers are trying to put the most positive spin on this as they can. The company line lately is that they’d never try to tank this season to ensure a high draft pick and that each of these losses still sting.
“There’s not a person in this organization that doesn’t have a will to win, that isn’t competitive, that doesn’t feel sick to their stomach after a loss,” team CEO Scott O’Neil told reporters. “That goes for me, and Sam and Coach, Josh, David. Everyone involved with the organization. “We signed up for this, we can get through this together. But it doesn’t make it any easier. It doesn’t.”
Well, maybe not, but the 76ers definitely make losing look easy right now. Really, they’ve fallen this far, is there why not go all the way with it?
