OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Sixers' loss to the Warriors burns, and rightfully so.
They had the defending Western Conference champions on the brink of an upset but after three strong quarters, surrendered their lead during the fourth in a 106-104 defeat Tuesday (see Instant Replay).
The young Sixers could look at the upside. Silver linings are easy to find when you have a 12-point advantage after the third and Dario Saric and Jahlil Okafor combined for 47 points (see feature highlight).
That doesn't help an inexperienced team grow, though, and no one in the Sixers' locker room was talking moral victories.
"[I want the players] to be hard on themselves after a loss," Brett Brown said. "That's a good thing. It hurts. It should hurt. We put in the time. We were in a position on the road to try to get a win. We give Golden State credit. I think that Timmy (Luwawu-Cabarrot) and Dario and our young guys will learn from this, but it stings and it should sting."
The Sixers had an opportunity to score down 106-103 with 8.5 seconds left. T.J. McConnell looked for Saric on the inbounds pass, but Saric had already cut to the basket and Matt Barnes stole the ball. In the past, Saric has been the inbounder, but in this case, the Sixers were looking for him to score.
NBA
"It's a very funny floor spot," Brown explained. "So when you see us bottled up on the sideline, I came out and tried to call a timeout and tried to get Dario open on sort of a funny part of the floor and have him get a clean look. He was open for a second. We don't have a timeout and T.J. just tried to get it inbounds."
The Sixers had another chance when Barnes missed the fast-break dunk and Luwawu-Cabarrot grabbed the rebound. Draymond Green wisely fouled Saric with 2.6 seconds remaining before the rookie could get off a three-point attempt. Saric made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second. Richaun Holmes missed a tip-in attempt and the Warriors held on.
"We maybe lost a rhythm and lost an intensity we had all game. We were leading by [16] points and we should win in this case," Luwawu-Cabarrot said. "They looked confident and we lost it. The game got like this, but we have to keep going."
There were highlights sprinkled throughout the Sixers' box score. Saric scored 25 points with seven rebounds and six assists, earning praise from Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who compared the Sixers' style of play to his own team's. Okafor posted 22 with six rebounds and four blocks. McConnell led all players with 10 assists. Robert Covington tied a game-high with nine rebounds. Holmes was right behind with eight boards and 14 points.
Those numbers didn't carry much weight after the game to those who posted them.
"I feel bad," Saric said. "Because you want to play good, you want to play against the best players and you want to win every game. Sometimes it's hard. They are a championship team. They have so many Finals games, they've played in so many important games. We don't have that experience."
A close loss against a championship-caliber team shouldn't be celebrated, but the Sixers don't have to wallow in it for the remainder of the season, either. A game like this can be used as a learning experience, a matchup they can look back on as a reference point on how to take that next step.
"It's a classic case of us needing the ability to execute on the road in a fourth period that -- we've said all along that fourth periods are different," Brown said. "You're playing against the No. 1 defense in the NBA and they go small. They switch on you on everything with a bunch of all-league defensive players. It's easier for me to sit here and say that than to do."
The Sixers will make the long flight back to Philadelphia after this game with thoughts of the final quarter overshadowing the first three.
"Any time you lose, I don't think you're too happy," McConnell said. "I can't really say that I'm pleased with a loss. There are some good things that came out of it, but anytime you lose, it doesn't feel good."