Sixers survive as old Clippers run out of juice in the fourth quarter

Philadelphia — Dominick Barlow gambled away from the strong-side corner in hopes of creating a live-ball turnover. But helping out of the strong-side corner is a cardinal sin in the NBA.

The ball went to Nico Batum, who was in position to punish Barlow's gamble.

Practice shot.

That possession was the entire first half in a nutshell on Monday night.

Philadelphia's heads were in the right place. They dove for loose balls. They X'ed out in help rotations when the Clippers swung the ball from side to side. The defensive scheme after James Harden lit the Sixers up in the first quarter was smart, Nick Nurse throwing a box-and-one out there to try to keep Los Angeles quiet.

The same could be said for the offensive end. Philadelphia toggled through dribble weaves around the top of the key until they got the switch they liked. The Sixers screened all over the floor and made passes out of the short roll. Any coach would generally live with the shots the Sixers got.

Sometimes the game is simple. The younger home team shot below 40 percent from the field in the first 24 minutes. The far-older road team on the second night of a back-to-back shot nearly 48 percent from the field.

The math doesn't have to add up. The team that was supposed to be tired didn't look all that tired. Those dead legs didn't quite hit.

You know what else didn't quite hit? The minutes the Clippers played without Harden.

The Sixers were outscored by nine points in Harden's 18 first-half minutes. They lost the six minutes he sat by one point.

Los Angeles was 4-9 coming into this game. They're built as if all record of last season's Sixers was deleted. With Kawhi Leonard out, Tyronn Lue called upon 40-year-old Chris Paul and Bogdan Bogdanovic to power the Clippers' offense while the 36-year-old Harden rested.

To put it more directly, it is unacceptable for this team to lose those minutes. They are a gift. Cherish them as such.

The Sixers had three opportunities to flip this game.

The second came with 7:57 remaining in the third quarter. Philadelphia had the Clippers in the bonus. Kris Dunn picked up his fourth foul some 75 seconds later. It was a perfect opportunity to challenge the Clippers' interior defense. Test the wills of the older Los Angeles deckhands to thwart dribble penetration. There was incentive to be more aggressive on the drive, and the Clippers' best ballhawk was restrained by foul trouble.

The Sixers have had two consecutive games in which they made progress in the third quarters. The problem has changed ever so slightly. They now wait until the final two minutes of the third to fall apart. And even with the advantage they earned early in the third, they found themselves back at square one when Harden converted a layup through a foul to keep the Sixers down 10 heading into the fourth quarter.

Perhaps the third opportunity was the charm.

The Clippers handed the offense over to Paul for five minutes and eight seconds to start the fourth. The Sixers had five minutes and eight seconds to kick the door wide open while Harden recharged.

The third opportunity was the charm.

But not only did they win the non-Harden minutes. Philadelphia firmly won the minutes Harden was on the court in the fourth quarter.

The Clippers' sea legs kicked in. Their last made field goal from outside of the paint — a Paul three — came with seven minutes and five seconds remaining in the final quarter.

That fact is why the Sixers held off the Clippers on Monday night. They had plenty of juice with enough time to play. The Clippers had no juice with too much time to play.

The jumpers didn't stop landing short on the rim after Harden checked back in. Rather, the shot quality simply deteriorated.

Shots that are bad for most are good for Harden. But under the heavy beard and mercurial personality is a human. One that is old in NBA terms, at that. On the heels of a 38-minute outing in Boston on Sunday, Harden logged 37 minutes against the Sixers.

And when the minutes caught up to Harden, that was all she wrote.

Another crunch-time feather in the Sixers' cap. It is one that probably should've gone the other way.

Quentin Grimes made contact with Harden's shooting arm on a stepback three that would've given Los Angeles the lead with six seconds to play. The foul was not called. The postgame Pool Report implied that the foul may have been missed. The league's Last Two Minutes Report on Tuesday will ostensibly admit a mistake was made.

It all counts the same in the standings, though.

So Trendon Watford and Tyrese Maxey couldn't help but embrace and share a laugh, the friends chasing the ball down the floor as time ran out on the Clippers.

Anything to escape with one in late November.