CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There were a few things head coach Brett Brown liked about the Sixers' performance Friday night against the Charlotte Hornets.
Yet one thing — shooting, or lack of it — made the positives moot during the Sixers’ 100-91 loss to the Hornets at Time Warner Cable Arena (see Instant Replay).
The Sixers shot just 36.7 percent from the field (33 of 90) — their eighth-lowest mark this season — and made 10 of 39 three-pointers (25.6 percent). The Sixers also went 15 of 21 from the free throw line in extending their losing streak to 11 games.
The defeat also guaranteed the Sixers the NBA's worst record this season.
“We couldn’t hit a shot — that was the downside,” Sixers guard Ish Smith said. “But our defense has been good, ever since Coach challenged us to be better at it about four or five games ago.
“But tonight … they’re a good defensive team, too, but for the most part, we missed shots that we usually make. A lot of the threes, the pull-up jump shot finishes at the rim, those are shots we usually make, and have been making all year.”
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Smith was indicative of the Sixers’ shooting problems Friday — he finished with four points (more than eight points under his season average) on 2 of 9 shooting from the field, and missed all three of his three-point attempts.
“There were some shots that we usually make that just didn’t fall,” Smith said.
But Smith wasn’t alone — Isaiah Canaan was 1 of 9 from the field (0 of 6 on three-pointers), Nik Stauskas was 3 of 11 (1 of 6 on threes), Robert Covington was 2 of 8 (2 of 7 on threes) and T.J. McConnell was 1 of 7 (1 of 3 on threes).
“Defensively, I don’t think we could’ve done much more,” Brown said. “To hold that team to 100 points twice … it’s a hard game. Defensively, I don’t have too many regrets. We needed to make more shots, it’s almost that simple.”
On the plus side, the undermanned Sixers — missing four of their key players to injuries — held one of the NBA’s better three-point shooting teams to nearly 11 points under their season average.
The Sixers also turned the ball over just 10 times — nearly seven less than their season average — and had 24 assists on the 33 made baskets.
While the Hornets shot 42.9 percent from the field (36 of 84), they were just 7 of 27 on three-pointers (25.9 percent). Entering Friday’s game, Charlotte was seventh in the NBA in three-point shooting at 36.2 percent.
However, the Hornets made up for the bad three-point shooting night at the free throw line (21 of 27) and with their ball movement (23 assists) and defense, which scored 14 points off the Sixers' turnovers.
Still, despite their problems putting the ball in the basket, the Sixers stuck with the Hornets in the first half. They held a 32-29 lead with less than 10 minutes left in the second quarter before a 13-3 run put Charlotte ahead to stay.
In the fourth quarter, the Sixers fought back from a 16-point deficit to pull within 87-83 with 4:57 remaining. But Kemba Walker, who finished with a game-high 27 points, hit a pair of three-pointers during a 10-point run to push the Hornets’ lead back to double digits.
“They don’t give up, got to give them credit for that,” Charlotte’s Nicolas Batum, who had 19 points, said. “This team, they may have only won nine games, but they never give up and that’s the beauty of this game.”
But all that was offset by the Sixers’ problems getting the ball in the basket consistently.
“That’s a really, really potent offensive team, so we’ve got to hang our hats on our effort and defense,” said Elton Brand, who came off the bench to post his first double-double this season (13 points, 11 rebounds).
“We’ve just got to hit some shots — we got some open looks. We’re going to keep plugging away. Guys are in the gym and they’re working. Six more games, hopefully things will break for us.”