Ranking the Sixers' Most Regrettable Losses of the Season

At 43-36 and locked into a daily shuffle of the standings until the regular season ends, the Sixers have plenty of regrets this season. Their season hanging in the balance between a guaranteed playoff spot and a Play-In path to the playoff field. They no longer control their destiny, now relying upon other teams to do some of the work for them to avoid the Play-In tournament.

So, going back through the first 79 games of this season, which ones have most contributed to them being in this position?

The criteria

A few variables will be considered in these rankings.

Health: The opponent's available players going into the game and injuries that occurred during the game.

Game trends: Did the Sixers have a double-digit lead at some point in the game? Did they have a multi-possession lead in the final minute of the game?

Randomness: Did something unusual happen, like an opposing player having an outlier game or an entire team doing something uncharacteristically well?

Opponent quality: Was the team clearly inferior to the Sixers?

Note: This ranking will not account for games that were blowouts on the simple basis that they were blowouts.

10. Cleveland Cavaliers, January 16

The Cavaliers did not have Darius Garland (right big toe soreness) or Sam Merrill (right hand sprain) for this game. Donovan Mitchell needed 13 shots to score 13 points and committed six turnovers. But Jaylon Tyson scored 39 points on 17 field goal attempts. He has reached 20 points in two different games since.

Paul George took 12 shots in 30 minutes of play. Tyrese Maxey registered nine assists and five steals, but needed 23 shots to score 22 points.

The Sixers led by 11 points with eight minutes and 47 seconds remaining and seven points with three minutes and 33 seconds remaining. They lost the game on a dump-off pass to Evan Mobley for a dunk with 4.8 seconds remaining in the game.

9. @ Los Angeles Lakers, February 5

Hours after the trade deadline passed without the Sixers making any additions to their team, they led the Lakers by 14 a minute and 10 seconds into the second half. A 30-point turnaround in less than 18 minutes of game time gave the Lakers a 16-point lead with four minutes and four seconds remaining in the game. Luka Doncic did not play in the second half due to a leg injury.

8. Brooklyn Nets, December 23

VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre and Dominick Barlow were all out when the Sixers hosted the 8-19 Nets. But the three max guys were available. The Sixers lost by eight points in a game that Brooklyn shot 17-for-45 from 3. Maxey scored just 13 points on 14 shots, logged only two assists and committed four turnovers as the Sixers were outscored by 19 points in his 39 minutes of action.

7. @ Miami Heat, March 30

After a very strong win against the Charlotte Hornets the game prior, the Sixers led the Heat by four points with three minutes and 22 seconds remaining. The Heat then closed the game on a 17-3 run as the Sixers' strategy against Miami's notorious zone defense collapsed in crunch time. The loss gave the Heat the head-to-head tiebreaker in an excruciatingly tight Eastern Conference playoff race.

6. @ San Antonio Spurs, April 6

Victory Wembanyama missed the second half of the game with a rib contusion. The Sixers were in the bonus, largely because of Joel Embiid, with five minutes and 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter and trailing by nine points. Only four of the 13 possessions the rest of the third quarter ended with Embiid, who got two shots and two sets of free throws.

Then, trailing by seven points to open the fourth quarter, Nick Nurse replaced Embiid with Andre Drummond, who promptly conceded two layups and a dunk over a near-four-minute stretch that saw the Spurs double their lead.

Maxey scored 15 points on 16 shots in 40 minutes. He committed four turnovers against eight assists. George scored 16 points on 15 shots and only added four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

5. @ New Orleans Pelicans, February 21

The Sixers were without Embiid and George, but the 16-42 Pelicans shot 17-for-34 from 3. The Sixers led for 60% of the game, per ESPN. But New Orleans outscored them, 69-46, in the second half. 37-year-old DeAndre Jordan notched 15 rebounds and rejected four shots in 32 minutes.

4. @ Toronto Raptors, January 11

The Sixers were without Embiid and George on the first night of a back-to-back, but Maxey nailed a 3 to give Philadelphia a four-point lead with 20 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Oubre then committed a turnover on the inbound pass with 11 seconds remaining and the Sixers leading by two points. The game went to overtime because the Sixers conceded a layup to 6-foot-1 Jamal Shead to tie the game with 1.8 seconds left. Oubre fouled Scottie Barnes with 0.8 seconds left in overtime. Barnes split the free throws, but the Sixers missed an opportunity for a defensive rebound on the second free throw and the clock ran out without a possession.

3. @ Chicago Bulls, November 4

The Sixers were up, 65-41, with four minutes and 50 seconds left in the first half. At that point, ESPN gave the Sixers a 97.6% chance to win over Chicago sans Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White. That's all that really needs to be said.

Embiid needed 21 shots to score 20 points in 26 minutes of action.

2. Denver Nuggets, January 5

The Nuggets were without (deep breath) Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun and Cam Johnson. Jalen Picket scored 29 points and laced seven 3s. George needed 10 shots to score eight points and the team was outscored by 18 in his 32 minutes on the floor. The Sixers needed overtime to lose to the skeletal remains of a cross-conference rival.

1. Atlanta Hawks, November 30

Maxey missed two free throws that would've put the Sixers up four with 4.6 seconds remaining in overtime. Jalen Johnson then tied the game on two free throws with 0.3 seconds left and nailed a pair of key 3s in double overtime to doom the Sixers.

George scored 16 points on 17 shots, but reeled in seven rebounds and came up with five steals.