CHICAGO — Henry Sims can see the growth and he’s not referring to the stack of losses.
CHICAGO — Henry Sims can see the growth and he’s not referring to the stack of losses.
The Philadelphia 76ers’ skid continued and so did their march toward the wrong kind of record.
They have dropped 24 straight after losing 91-81 to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. But Sims can at least see some positives.
“We’re learning to play better with each other,” he said. “We’re learning to make better decisions down the stretch. We’re growing right now, and that’s the main focus right now. The games we have left, we want to keep growing.”
They wouldn’t mind stopping the losing streak, either, but the Bulls weren’t about to let that happen.
Joakim Noah finished with 20 points, Jimmy Butler scored 17, and Chicago handed the 76ers yet another loss to put them within two of the NBA record.
The Sixers moved ahead of the Vancouver Grizzlies (1995-96), Denver Nuggets (1997-98) and Charlotte Bobcats (2011-12) for the second-longest, single-season losing streak.
The Cleveland Cavaliers dropped 26 during the 2010-11 season, and Philadelphia would have to pull off an upset to avoid tying that.
The next two games are at San Antonio and Houston. Drop them, and the Sixers could set the record at home against Detroit on March 29, particularly if they continue to shoot like this from the outside.
They missed their first 18 3-pointers and were threatening a league record before Byron Mullens made one early in the fourth. They wound up going 1 for 20. The mark for most 3-point attempts in a game without a conversion is 15.
Augustin added 16 points and six assists, and the Bulls came away with the win after losing at Indiana the previous night.
PELICANS 105
HEAT 95
NEW ORLEANS — Anthony Davis had 30 points, 11 rebounds and three steals, and New Orleans handed struggling Miami its seventh loss in 11 games.
LeBron James twisted his right ankle while stepping on Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans’ foot during a drive to the hoop late in the third quarter, but remained in the game and finished with 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. It was not enough for Miami, which gave guard Dwyane Wade and center Greg Oden the night off following Friday’s victory at Memphis.
GRIZZLIES 82
PACERS 71
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Mike Conley scored 21 points, Zach Randolph added 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Memphis held Indiana to its lowest point total of the season.
Mike Miller added 13 points as Memphis won for the seventh time in nine games and maintained its hold on the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Lance Stephenson led the Pacers with 15 points and eight rebounds, while David West added 10 points, but was 5 of 15 from the field.
ROCKETS 118
CAVALIERS 111
CLEVELAND — James Harden scored 37 points, including 17 in the third quarter, and Houston led from wire-to-wire in a victory over Cleveland.
Harden was 9 of 15 from the field, hit five 3-pointers, made all 14 of his free throws and had 11 assists without playing the fourth quarter after Houston built a 29-point lead late in the third.