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It Wasn't Pretty, But 76ers Manage To Win Their First Game Of The Season

Philadelphia 76ers forward JaKarr Sampson congratulates guard K.J. McDaniels during the fourth quarter of Wednesday's NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Hannah Foslien
/
AP
Philadelphia 76ers forward JaKarr Sampson congratulates guard K.J. McDaniels during the fourth quarter of Wednesday's NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

And on the 18th try, the Philadelphia 76ers finally snapped their losing streak, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 85-77 on Wednesday.

Yes, they managed to right the ship to avoid tying the record for worst start to an NBA season and, yes, a win is a win.

But it wasn't pretty. Dead Spin notes that the 76ers may now be 1-17, but they are still "a cynical and indescribably awful fraud," or, put simply, the "grossest team in the NBA."

They go on:

"For an actual NBA team, this would not be a victory to be all that proud of. The Sixers won 85-77 and shot 39 percent from the floor against the second-worst defensive unit in the league. (The T-Wolves are allowing 109.6 points per game.) Philadelphia also turned the ball over 18 times, shot 5-of-24 from behind the three-point line, and somehow managed to score just nine points in the second quarter."

Not only that, but perhaps as a symbol of what was to come, the game got off to a bizarre start, where the teams shot at the wrong basket. Seventeen-seconds into the game, the refs decided to just start over.

Here's video:

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Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.