Embarrassment In South Philly As 76ers Lose By 40 To Spurs
San Antonio Spurs Victor Wembanyama, right, shoots the ball as he is fouled by Philadelphia 76ers' Andre. Drummond during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
The 76ers lost by how many points?
In a game that was basically over before it started, the Philadelphia 76ers were embarrassed on their home court, losing to Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. The 76ers were without three starters as Joel Embiid continues to rehab from his oblique injury, Kelly Oubre Jr. was under the weather, and Paul George is still suspended.
With injuries and suspensions and whatnot, the 76ers have been unable to have a hint of consistency in their recent games, as they haven’t had the same lineup three games in a row in months. This has caused multiple games to get out of hand quickly, causing multiple blowouts over the last month.
This one was no different as the Spurs dominated from start to finish, posting a double-digit lead in the first three minutes of action, and eventually getting out to a 30-point lead in the second quarter. The game got so bad that the Spurs eventually made it a 49-point affair in the third quarter, before holding on to win 131-91.
Devin Vassell and Dylan Harper both led the Spurs in points with 22 as the team shot an impressive 57% from the field. Tyrese Maxey, the only player who seems to show up constantly every night for the 76ers, finished with a team-high 21 points.
With Embiid, George, and Oubre out of the lineup, multiple bench players for the 76ers were bolstered into the starting lineups. Due to this, it took a few minutes for the 76ers to get on the board, allowing the Spurs to score double-digit points before they even recorded a field goal.
San Antonio jumped out to an 11-2 lead when Quentin Grimes knocked down the first field goal for Philadelphia, but an alley-oop dunk from VJ Edgecombe woke the crowd up.
It took a few minutes for the 76ers to get going after that dunk, as the Spurs came out firing, extending their lead to 12, but thanks to four points from Adem Bona, back-to-back threes from Justin Edwards, and a long triple from Maxey, the 76ers were able to tie the game at 22.
However, that tie didn’t last long as over the final two minutes of the first quarter, the Spurs went on a 10-3 run, highlighted by five points from Carter Bryant and a three-pointer from Harper, to go up 32-25 heading into the second quarter.
Quarter number two started on a decent note for Philadelphia, as they kept it close thanks to Bona and seven points from Cam Payne. However, when the 76ers made it 44-36 after an Andre Drummond layup, the Spurs went on another huge run for the remainder of the second quarter.
Julian Champagnie, Wembanyama, Vessell, and Bryant all hit threes to extend the Spurs’ lead into the 20’s. Maxey did his best, scoring buckets whenever he could to try to keep the 76ers in the game, but the lead just continued to grow for San Antonio. Whether it was dunks or threes, the Spurs couldn’t miss in the second, outscoring the 76ers 46-28 in the quarter and a 31-17 over the final six minutes before the half, taking a 78-53 lead into the break.
If it couldn’t get any worse, Edgecombe exited the game after falling hard to the floor on a fouled three-point attempt on the final play of the first half. He did not return, and the Sixers later announced that Edgecombe was ruled out with lower back soreness.
In the always dreaded third quarter, the 76ers couldn’t buy a shot, and they were also playing little to no defense against the Spurs. Maxey did his best with six points to open up the second half, but the threes kept dropping from San Antonio, and De’Aaron Fox handed the dishing and scored multiple buckets to extend the lead into the 30’s.
With six minutes to go in the third quarter, Nick Nurse took out his entire starting lineup in what turned out to be their last playing all night. The Spurs didn’t take their foot off the gas as the lead went from 30 to 40, and as the third quarter rolled along, the Spurs made it a 49-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Trailing 113-64 heading into the fourth, Nurse continued emptying his bench, putting the bottom five guys available on the floor to just go out and shoot whatever they want. San Antonio finally emptied their bench, and the final 12 minutes of action were essentially a G-League matchup between the two teams. The 76ers outscored the Spurs 18-13 in the fourth, but it was not enough as San Antonio won 131-91.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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