Sixers-Warriors observations: Mistakes, poor execution down stretch doom Philly again

The Golden State Warriors defeated the 76ers, 120-117, Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center. Here are some observations and best and worst awards:

- Jonah Bolden’s performance has to have Sixers coach Brett Brown rethinking his center rotation. The rookie proved, once again, that he’s capable of logging quality minutes in certain situations. With Joel Embiid sidelined, Bolden started the last three games. He quickness and versatility proved to be a matchup nightmare for Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins. Bolden had 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting – including making 3 of 4 three-pointers – to go with two blocks. That wasn’t an isolated incident. He’s averaged 13 points while making 10 of 12 shots – 5 of 7 threes – in the past two games. Not bad for a guy that was out of the rotation in the first four games after the trade deadline when Embiid was healthy.

- The Sixers reverted back to the team that experiences self-destruction with sub-par play and poor decisions down the stretch. Missed shots, questionable decisions by players and coach Brett Brown, running out of timeouts and a costly turnover went on to doom the Sixers after Mike Scott knotted the score at 111 with a pair of foul shots with 3 minutes, 21 seconds remaining. The Sixers used their fifth timeout with 1 minute remaining and burned their final one 22 seconds later. They make so many tactical errors in the last few minutes of games.

- Less is more for the Sixers in regards to Ben Simmons’ scoring totals. He finished with a team-high 25 points, 15 rebounds, 11 assists and nine turnovers for his 10th triple-double of the season. However, the Sixers are 1-4 in games that he’s scored 20 points or more since the start of February. They’re 5-1 when he scored fewer than 20 points over the same stretch. However, one can argue that he had be aggressive in the offensive end the past five games to make up for Embiid being sidelined.

- Best performance: Durant gets this award after finishing with a game-high 34 points. Twelve of his points came in the third quarter when the Warriors battled back into the game.

- Worst performance: This goes to JJ Redick, who finished with a season-low six points on 2-for-9 shooting. He missed all three of his three-point attempts.

- Best defensive performance: This goes to Draymond Green, who had three steals. The Warriors forward also helped Durant defend Harris on the Sixers’ final possession that concluded with Harris stepping out of bounds after receiving a long inbounds pass from Simmons.

- Worst statistic: This goes to Simmons’ nine turnovers.

- Best statistic: I had to give this to the Scott’s six three-pointers in nine attempts. That tied his second high for makes.