LOS ANGELES -- T.J. McConnell had his best game in quite a while for the 76ers on Friday night.
That doesn’t mean the rookie point guard was particularly happy with his performance in the Sixers' 93-84 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers (see Instant Replay).
McConnell had 12 points, seven assists and four rebounds off the bench, but also had a critical turnover and felt he didn’t adequately defend the perimeter during a decisive 15-2 Lakers run in the fourth quarter.
Despite his impressive offense output, he still finished minus-7 on the night and took responsibility for the Sixers’ late collapse.
“I can’t let that get out of hand like that,” McConnell said. “It starts with the point guard, so that falls on me.”
The rookie from Arizona was the Sixers’ highlight of the game most of the night.
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Stuck in a terrible slump that saw him average just 3.5 points per game his last 11 outings and his minutes dwindle, McConnell came out with deadly precision at Staples Center and drained 5 of 6 shots from the field.
He had a layup and three assists in a five-possession span during a fourth-quarter run to cut the Sixers' deficit to 73-70 with 8:10 to go, and was left out on the floor in crunch time as a reward.
“That was the group on the floor that got us back in it,” Sixers head coach Brett Brown said. “Maybe we left them in a minute longer than I should have, but that group was the reason we were in it.”
It didn’t go well.
Lou Williams hit two 3-pointers and Nick Young another as the Sixers' perimeter defense faltered, and McConnell surrendered a key steal to Brandon Bass to amplify the bleeding during the 15-2 Lakers run that put the game away.
“That steal can’t happen,” McConnell said. “It was just a bad decision by me.”
McConnell was hardly alone in the blame for the Sixers’ loss. If anything, it probably would’ve been worse without him.
Starting guards Ish Smith and Isaiah Canaan went a combined 5 of 30 from the floor, including 1 of 10 from 3-point range.
Their struggles were at the forefront of an ugly offensive night for the team as a whole. The Sixers shot just 4 of 24 from 3-point range and 36.9 percent from the field overall. Their 84 points were their fewest in 10 games.
“You see our starting backcourt go 5 for 30, it’s hard to do that and win on the road,” Brown said. “We felt like our defense was holding fort. We just had to make some shots, and we weren’t able to.”
The Sixers were further hurt by the absence of Hollis Thompson, who is recovering from a corneal abrasion and is doubtful for Saturday’s game against the Clippers, and JaKarr Sampson’s mid-game departure with an unspecified right shoulder injury.
Despite all of the other factors that played into the loss, McConnell still played the role of the veteran and shouldered the blame, unprompted.
“In the second half I wasn’t very good,” he said. “I’ve got to pull us together and can’t let us get in a bad slump like that.”