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Sixers fall to Grizzlies, 102-91

MEMPHIS - If the 76ers had a visible battery life, like in a video game, it would have been blinking red only minutes into Tuesday night's 102-91 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

With only one game left before the all-star break, the Sixers dropped to 26-29 after last night's loss. (Lance Murphey/AP)
With only one game left before the all-star break, the Sixers dropped to 26-29 after last night's loss. (Lance Murphey/AP)Read more

MEMPHIS - If the 76ers had a visible battery life, like in a video game, it would have been blinking red only minutes into Tuesday night's 102-91 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Everything went wrong.

It felt as if the Sixers had been swatted with one massive Grizzlies paw and were stumbling backward: The ball was repeatedly ripped from their hands, the offense looked as if someone had hit pause, and with each possession the score became more and more lopsided.

By the end of the first quarter, Memphis was ahead, 26-10. The Sixers had committed eight turnovers, the Grizzlies none.

"That team is a nightmare matchup for us," Sixers coach Doug Collins said. "They are big, strong - they just rocked us in that first quarter. They got us on our heels, they just took the ball off of us, did anything they wanted to do."

With only one game left before the all-star break, the Sixers dropped to 26-29. The Grizzlies improved to 31-26.

On one of the Sixers' first possessions, guard Jodie Meeks had the ball ripped from him by Memphis guard Sam Young. Collins jumped from the bench and warned Meeks against loosely gripping the ball, unaware that the problem was not Meeks' alone: His turnover was the first symptom of a game-long disease.

Within seconds of tip-off, it was clear that the Grizzlies were coming after the ball like blitzing cornerbacks.

"I'd probably say this is one of the most aggressive teams we've played," said Sixers forward Thaddeus Young, who scored a game-high 23 points. "Just because the lineups they put in the game are so physical and strong. They try to outmuscle you and out-quick you to everything."

Late in the third quarter, after pushing to within 11 points at halftime, the Sixers crept to within one point, 71-70. Memphis center Marc Gasol immediately responded with a baby hook in the lane. In the fourth, Grizzlies guard Mike Conley scored 15 of his 22 points and the two teams basically jogged to the finish line.

"They were overly aggressive, but when you play that way, the style of play goes to the aggressor and they had that," Sixers swingman Andre Iguodala said.

On this night, the numbers just weren't in alignment. Not only the final score, but also the columns of accompanying numbers that contribute to it. Collins likes it when his team finishes with 13 or fewer turnovers and 22 or more assists. On Tuesday, the Sixers finished with 17 turnovers and only 14 assists. By comparison, the Grizzlies finished with 20 assists and only seven turnovers.

"That's a telltale sign for us," Collins said of the assist-to-turnover ratio.

"When we get beat on turnovers like that, it tells me who's the aggressor," Collins explained. "I told the guys, 'Guys, you see the way the game's being refereed, they're going to let you get knocked around, so you have to respond.' "

The Sixers tried, but it was as if their battery life had already been drained.