Sixers fall to Grizzlies, 99-94

Doug Collins kept looking for answers. All the 76ers coach saw Friday night were turnovers. The Sixers suffered one of their most devastating defeats in a game that had as many peaks and valleys as their season.

Leading by 21 points with fewer than four minutes to go in the third quarter, the Sixers suffered a fourth-quarter meltdown in a 99-94 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in front of 14,289 stunned fans at the Wells Fargo Center.

"We had complete control of the game," Collins said. "They went with their second unit, went to a zone, and we just went dead."

Here are two of the, uh, grisly fourth-quarter details:

The Sixers were outscored, 42-21, in the fourth quarter when they committed 11 turnovers.

Memphis shot 13 for 22 from the field and 16 for 16 from the foul line.

"It's very disheartening," said Elton Brand, who had 15 points and nine rebounds. "It seemed like we got past that point where we were losing leads, especially a 21-point lead."

The Sixers (20-26) won't have much time to lick their wounds. They will host the hot Denver Nuggets, winners of eight of their last 10, on Sunday.

If one play turned the game around, it may have been a driving, tomahawk dunk by Memphis forward Rudy Gay that cut the Sixers' lead to 84-82 with 2 minutes, 22 seconds remaining.

"That really gave them a lift when he made that play," Collins said. "That was one of the best plays I have seen all season long."

It ranks up there for Gay as well.

"I was really just trying to get a play at the basket," said Gay, who scored eight of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. "I guess it was more emphatic than I envisioned."

Gay broke an 85-85 tie on a 13-foot runner with 1:17 left.

After a Sixers shot-clock violation, Memphis forward Sam Young buried a short jumper to boost the lead to 89-85 with 31.9 seconds left.

Andre Iguodala then hit a jumper, and the Sixers called time with 26.1 seconds to go.

The Sixers purposely fouled center Marc Gasol, who entered the game a 75.1 percent free-throw shooter. Gasol hit both free throws, extending the lead to 91-87 with 24.8 seconds remaining.

Iguodala's three-point attempt went in and out and former Boston Celtic Tony Allen hit two free throws.

Tony Battie's corner three cut Memphis' lead to 93-90. Memphis forward Zach Randolph sank two free throws with 8.3 seconds left for a 95-90 advantage, but the Sixers weren't finished yet.

They got to within 95-94 on an improbable four-point play when Jody Meeks hit an off-balance three-point field goal and was fouled by Young. Meeks hit the free throw.

Randolph hit two free throws with 6.7 seconds left.

The Sixers' final chance was thwarted when Battie's long inbound pass went out of bounds. Randolph was fouled again, and this time he iced the game by sinking both free throws, finishing with a game-high 22 points.

The Sixers were snowed in Wednesday night after their win at Toronto and didn't get home until Thursday.

"We gave one away," said Iguodala, who certainly didn't have a happy 27th birthday on Friday. "I thought at the shoot-around in the morning we were a little giddy because our schedule was a little weird, being in Toronto the extra day, and it kind of backfired on us."