Fatigued, undermanned Sixers fall to Hornets in Charlotte, 107-101

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The 76ers were focused on being better than Tuesday night.

With all things considered, their victory over the Brooklyn Nets was their most impressive of the season.

But …

“I think we missed about 11 layups,” coach Doc Rivers said before Wednesday’s matchup against the Charlotte Hornets. “I’m not talking about contested layups. So we can’t do that again and think we are going to win. But all that other stuff was good.”

The Sixers actually played worse while losing, 107-101, to the Hornets Wednesday at the Spectrum Center.

One night after shooting 50% from three, the Sixers made just 23.7% from beyond the arc against the Hornets. A night after grabbing 20 offensive rebounds, they had eight. And the Sixers committed 19 turnovers, leading to 23 points.

» READ MORE: Sixers play with an edge that’s being sharpened in the absence of their stars

All that led to a huge letdown against one of the league’s worst teams 24 hours after a thrilling victory over Ben Simmons and the Nets.

Just don’t tell Rivers that his team took a step backward.

“I thought we played great,” he said after the game. “Honestly, I think we ran out of gas. I didn’t see a negative thing we can say in this game. Honest to God, I thought we played hard. I mean, in the first quarter we had 33 points. From then on, we missed a lot of makable shots, which you’ll live with. I thought our energy was fantastic.

“We played a team that’s been off for three days. I thought that was it more than anything.”

It was also a Hornets teams had won for just the second time in 13 games. Charlotte (5-14) snapped a three-game losing skid with the victory and picked up just its second home win of the season. The Hornets also beat the Sixers (9-9) for the first time in the team’s last nine games in the Queen City.

Shake Milton paced the Sixers with 22 points, a career-high tying nine assists, and seven rebounds. Tobias Harris added 19 points.

Terry Rozier led Charlotte with 22 points.

The Sixers were without perennial All-Stars Joel Embiid (left foot sprain) and James Harden (right foot strain) and rising star Tyrese Maxey (left foot fracture) in both games. Standout reserve Matisse Thybulle (left ankle soreness) also sat out Wednesday’s loss. He played just 3 minutes, 22 seconds on Tuesday because of the nagging injury.

But it’s hard to use their absences as an excuse in losing to the Hornets when they beat Simmons and the Nets in a marquee matchup without the same players.

The Sixers built a 33-21 lead after one quarter thanks to 60% shooting from the field. De’Anthony Melton led the charge with 13 points on 4-for-5 shooting. However, his game, as did the Sixers’, went missing in the second quarter. Melton failed to score in the second while missing all five of his shots. As a team, the Sixers made just eight of 24 shots, leading to them clinging to a 54-53 halftime lead.

The Hornets took their first lead (55-54) on Rozier’s layup 23 seconds into the second half.

Charlotte took a 79-75 lead into the fourth quarter after closing out the third on a 21-8 run.

The Sixers have a history of following up big games with clunkers. Harris, who was 1-for-9 from three, thinks this scenario was different.

“I think like, obviously, we were in it,” he said. “We had it. It slipped away a little bit. I mean, it did slip away. But we just have to figure out ways in the fourth quarters to still get shots.

“We did get good looks, but honestly, we just didn’t make them.”

The Sixers’ grit was once again on display against the Hornets. But 18 games in, they still don’t have an identity. That has a lot to do with playing only six games with their expected starting lineup because of injuries and ailments.

“We haven’t been allowed to have one,” Rivers said. “We haven’t had our team.

“We need to play a little bit together to see what we can be. I feel very confident in our team. I’d just like to see them play once, but that’s going to come.”

In the meantime, Rivers noted the one characteristic that the team has shown is being resilient.

“There’s a bunch of games already this year. We beat Phoenix without James. We won against Toronto without Joel, and then [Tuesday] night we won without everybody. That says a lot about the character of your team and that’s a good sign moving forward.”

» READ MORE: Ben Simmons and the Nets’ loser energy were no match for a Sixers team that taught its injured stars a lesson

The Sixers traveled to Orlando following the game for a two-game series against the Magic at the Amway Center. They’ll play at 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Sunday.