Sixers let huge lead slip away, lose to Grizzlies

MAYBE IT'S a growing pain.

Maybe it's their DNA.

Either way, Andre Iguodala, the core of the team, was unforgiving in his assessment. So was coach Doug Collins . . . but Collins is the general.

Iguodala is a soldier.

The Sixers blew the 21-point lead they held with 3 minutes, 41 seconds to play in the third quarter. They lost, 99-94, to the visiting Grizzlies last night.

It was the biggest blown lead of the season. It was a waste of their best three-point shooting of the season, a 13-for-20 explosion.

It was, perhaps, their worst loss, since their collapse came at home and began while no Grizzlies starters were on the floor and after that second-string switched to zone, led by 7-3, 267-pound Hasheem Thabeet.

That's right: a zone defense, run around a guy who averages less than 9 minutes a game. The Sixers committed 13 of their 19 turnovers in that final 15:41. The Grizzlies scored 42 points in the fourth quarter, two shy of the Sixers' worst defensive fourth quarter of the season, on Nov. 5.

"I've never seen so many turnovers against a zone in my life," Collins said.

"We gave one away," Iguodala said, seething.

He proceeded to skewer his teammates' practice attitudes, their in-game focus, their physicality, their professionalism.

He saw this sort of performance coming. Sort of.

Inclement weather combined with the schedule kept the Sixers from having a real practice since Sunday. It showed last night, Collins said.

It showed yesterday morning, at shootaround, Iguodala said.

"We were a little giddy," said Iguodala, who scored 12 points, snared eight rebounds and dealt nine assists.

The Sixers had reason for giddiness. They had won three straight, their best run of the year. True, practice is where they work against zones . . . but then, the Sixers had little trouble drawing Toronto out of a zone in their win there Wednesday.

This was less about making sharp passes against a boutique defense than it was about losing focus when it matters most.

"Sometimes, when we get the lead, we get away from the fundamentals," Iguodala said. "We need to continue to realize we need to get better. Up 20, down 20, we can make progress."

As the Grizzlies crawled back, there were moments of hope that the Sixers would stop them.

For instance, Iguodala smothered high-flying forward Rudy Gay as Gay drove to the hoop with about 4 minutes left and preserved a six-point lead.

Soon thereafter, Gay got Iguodala on his left hip again, made an identical drive but, this time, he drove harder and jumped higher.

Gay's fingertips grazed the rim as he completed a highlight slam. Iguodala was livid.

"We have to understand there, we have to protect our paint," Iguodala said. "Other teams protect the paint when I go in like that. We need to fix that."

Forwards Thaddeus Young and Elton Brand were on the court at the time. They had left the locker room by the time Iguodala spoke.

The Sixers will practice today. Rest assured, Collins will work them. Iguodala hopes they get the message.

"We have to understand, when we practice, it's for a purpose," Iguodala said.

All strong words from the team's spokesman, its best player - words Collins, no doubt, will thrill to hear.

Last night, Collins declined to address Iguodala's observations.

Collins already had made plenty of his own.

"It's the most frustrated I've been by our offense in a long time," Collins said.

He included the 21-2 run during the meat of the third quarter that gave them a 20-point lead, which stretched to 21 points with 3:41 to go in the quarter.

Then, along came the Grizzlies' subs, and the zone.

"You could see, as it started slipping away, guys getting tight," Collins said.

He saw Iguodala deny Gay, but then watched Jrue Holiday get his shot blocked by Marc Gasol, part of the fleet of starters who returned with just over 5 minutes to play. Then Gasol traipsed into the lane and converted a soft layup that cut the lead to 84-80 with 3:09 to play.

Brand missed a short, open jumper but blocked Zach Randolph's shot - another cause for hope.

Gay got the loose ball and, with a mighty leap, punctuated the Sixers' humiliation.

"That really gave them a lift," Collins said. "That was one of the best plays I've seen all season long."

"I thought I was getting old," said Gay, whose skywalking regularly supplies highlight shows but whose contributions lately had been sparse.

He finished with 16 points. Randolph, who hit four six throws in the final 8.3 seconds, led everyone with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Randolph's conventional three-point play gave the Grizzlies an 85-84 lead, their first since the 9:18 mark of the second quarter. Gay's tough runner against Iguodala on the next possession gave the Grizzlies the lead for good.

Gunner guard Jodie Meeks led the Sixers' three-point attack. He nailed three of his five three-pointers during the Sixers' big third-quarter burst. He added a final trey with 7.1 seconds left to cut the Grizzlies' lead to 95-93, and was fouled on the play by Sam Young. Meeks' free throw made it a one-point game, but Randolph made those last four free throws.

At 23-24, Memphis has suffered from the same maladies that hound the young Sixers (20-26). But last night, at last late, Randolph and his teammates - even the deepest parts of the bench - didn't play like they were giddy, or like they wouldn't protect the paint, or like they didn't take practice seriously, or like they figured they could cruise with a lead.

The Sixers entered hitting 34.1 percent of their three-pointers, 22nd in the NBA. They hit 11 of 21 against Charlotte on Dec. 4 and dropped 6 of 11 in Indiana on Oct. 30 . . . The Grizzlies played without reserve guard O.J. Mayo, who last night served the first game of a 10-game suspension for violating the league's drug policy. He tested positive test for dehydroepiandrosterone, a performance-enhancing drug. Mayo leads the Grizzlies with 175 three-pointers and averages 12.2 points but he started just 15 of 45 games in this, his third season . . . Elton Brand scored 15 but his ninth and 10th points were gifts. Sam Young tipped the carom from a Lou Williams shot up toward the Sixers' rim - but it went a little too close. In fact, it went in. It gave the Sixers a 44-36 lead with 53.7 seconds to play in the first half. Brand, the closest Sixer, got credit for the basket.