Sixers outlast Hornets in overtime and end five-game losing streak as Jared McCain scores 27 points

At least with rock bottom, there’s a finality when things could not possibly get worse.

For the 76ers? They knew things would get better with improved health and more time on the court together.

They benefited from the latter Sunday night in a 107-105 overtime victory over the Charlotte Hornets at the Wells Fargo Center.

The already undermanned Sixers won this game even though Paul George, who’s on a minutes restriction, sat out the entire extra session.

However, the game almost ended with controversy. With the Sixers up 105-104, Jared McCain was set to step to the foul line with 16.3 seconds left in overtime after being fouled by the Hornets’ LaMelo Ball.

But the Hornets challenged the call, and the official ruled that Ball made contact with the basketball instead of fouling McCain. So there was a jump ball that was won by the Hornets. Charlotte then called consecutive timeouts to set up plays. After the second one, the Hornets’ Seth Curry was called for a foul underneath the Hornets basket.

That put the Sixers’ Guerschon Yabusele at the foul line with 5 seconds remaining. He finished with 20 points, but he missed both free throws. But Caleb Martin grabbed the rebound and was fouled.

The forward hit a pair of foul shots to give the Sixers a 107-104 lead with 2.1 seconds to play.

» READ MORE: Paul George ‘frustrated’ to sit out OT and not be there for Sixers, feels lucky they pulled out victory vs. Hornets

All this came after Martin drained a huge three-pointer late in the fourth quarter after missing his first four shot attempts.

“That’s part of like you got to stay locked in no matter how the game is going, no matter if shots are going,” said Martin, who finished with five points on 1-for-5 shooting to go with five rebounds, three assists and a career-high tying four steals. “It’s hard sometimes, especially for me in particular. I’m so hard on myself. But sometimes you have to make sure you stay locked in because of moments like that and you are not ready for them.

“You are not ready to get that three. You are not ready to get that rebound. You are not ready to know the down the free throws. So I have been working on my mental game.”

The victory improved the Sixers to 2-7 and snapped a five-game losing streak. They’re no longer in last place in the NBA, which now belongs to the 2-9 Toronto Raptors. The Sixers will get another lift when Joel Embiid makes his season debut in Tuesday’s NBA Cup game against the New York Knicks at the Wells Fargo Center.

» READ MORE: Paul George and the Sixers are determined that the ‘ship hasn’t sunk’

The 2023 league MVP missed the preseason and the first six games for what the team called left knee injury management. Then he was suspended the last three games for shoving Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes in a locker room altercation.

In addition to Embiid, the Sixers were also without All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey, who’s dealing with a strained right hamstring.

McCain, a rookie guard, scored 11 of his career-high 27 points in the fourth quarter. He also guarded Ball in the overtime session.

“For me, it’s kind of just being quiet,” McCain said of guarding Ball. “Everything is so loud around you, so just locking in on the ball and having a quiet mind. My psychologist calls it ‘feel the dance’, and I just feel the flow and feel the dance and just wanted to get a stop, that’s all I wanted.”

He accomplished his goal. While Paul had five points in overtime, he made just 1 of 4 shots, missing all three of his three-pointers.

After the game, the 16th pick in June’s NBA draft was presented with the game ball.

“Well, thank goodness he did, we certainly needed every last one of them,” coach Nick Nurse said of McCain’s point total. “He can create, he can get by people and he’s got an array of finishes and he certainly plays with a lot of confidence and he just kept it going tonight. It was a great lift.

“I thought three guys off of our bench were outstanding giving us a lift. Him [McCain], Guerschon obviously, and Jeff [Dowtin Jr.] played good too.”

McCain, Yabusele and Dowtin combined to score all 58 of the Sixers’ bench points.

Yabusele finished with career highs of 20 points and eight rebounds. Nurse started him at center in the second half. And he rewarded the coach by scoring 12 of his points in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Dowtin, a two-way point guard, added 11 points, two rebounds and a steal.

George finished with 15 points, a season-high nine assists, two steals, and four turnovers in 33:14 of action. The All-Star forward, however, only made 6 of 18 shots in his fourth game after being sidelined at the start of the season with a bone bruise in his left knee. Andre Drummond added 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Martin had five points, five rebounds, three assists, and a career-high four steals.

“We are still trying to figure stuff out,” George said. “I am still trying to get in shape, get my legs back under me. But we are showing signs of compete and playing hard, just leaving it on the floor. Maximum effort is something we can all bring.”

Ball scored 16 of his career-high 38 points in the fourth quarter.

The Sixers had a little scare early in the game.

George was hit face point-blank in his left eye by his opponent’s hand while trying to defend a pass. The forward fell to the floor, resting on his back there for several minutes. After being helped up, he walked to the bench during the timeout before returning to the game.

The Sixers also blew a 16-point fourth-quarter lead that led to the Hornets (4-6) forcing overtime.

“It’s a good thing that we built up the lead,” Nurse said. “But again, we went through one of our scoring droughts and had to play I don’t know how many possessions in a row in transition, and we gave up a few transition buckets. I was really happy with our half-court defense and the effort we gave in the half-court defense and execution was excellent.

“But, again, our offense just dries up and we had some pretty good looks, we had some looks that we were getting most of the game and all of a sudden, we miss five or six in a row and that stuff can go fast.”

Luckily for the Sixers, McCain and Martin came through in the clutch.