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Philadelphia 76ers Tank by Holding Out Starters in Loss to Golden State Warriors

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By @papreps

Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors,

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Win a couple, sit a couple. Win one, sit one.

With few exceptions, that curious pattern was established after the Philadelphia 76ers won two of three games. The team was developing a nice chemistry with five starters, then a win would come and a starter would be held out with a questionable injury.

This happened twice and it is obvious what the Sixers appear to be doing. Once they appear to be on the verge of passing the New York Knicks in the standings, they take their foot off the gas pedal and pull behind the Knicks in the right lane. Such was the case again when the Sixers held out two starters in a 126-86 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. Shooting guard Hollis Thompson (upper respiratory infection) and power forward Luc Mbah a Moute (left calf strain) did not play. Earlier in the month, Tony Wroten and Thompson sat out games after Sixers’ wins.

Ostensibly, the reasons were injury and illness but players have played with the respiratory infections and calf strains before and that has to set off a few tanking conspiracy alarms. It’s pretty common knowledge that the Sixers would like to amass as many ping-pong balls as possible in order to move up the 2015 draft ladder. They already have three high No. 1 picks in point guard Michael Carter-Williams and centers Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid. Greed, though, is at the core of their business model and, while they say they want to win now, they do not seem too upset about holding out key players.

That’s wrong on so many levels. Winning is an attitude and that’s exactly the kind of mindset the Philadelphia 76ers need to establish right now. Overmatched even with a full lineup against the Warriors, the Sixers needed all hands on deck but did not give coach Brett Brown a full one.

Whether management is dictating the absences is a point of debate and will continue to be until the Sixers play all their starters for a few games in a row. It does not look like that is going to happen now and that cannot help their confidence going forward.

Mike Gibson is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @papreps , “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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