76ers deliver brutal bad beat with putrid fourth quarter

The Philadelphia 76ers delivered one of the first agonizing bad beats of the New Year on Tuesday night.

The Joel Embiid-led Sixers came into the game with a team total of 116.5 points, and just minutes into the game against the Bulls, that number looked like a shoo-in for the over.

In the first quarter, Philly dropped 43 points en route to a 25-point lead over Chicago.

During the second, the 76ers put up a solid 30 points, bringing their first-half total to 73, putting them on pace for 146 points in the game nearly 30 points more than their projected total.

After scoring another 25 points during the third quarter, it looked like there was zero shot they would hit the under.

But with 9:18 left in the game and the Sixers up 107-76, things fell off the rails.

The 76ers had 107 points with 9+ minutes to play. They finished with 110 points.Team total over 116.5 pic.twitter.com/tytqJDXNVL

— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) January 3, 2024The Sixers went scoreless over the final eight minutes and 11 seconds, scoring their final basket on a dunk by Jaden Springer.

It was just the 13th time through 33 games this season the Sixers had failed to score at least 117 points.

Philadelphias 12 fourth-quarter points were the fewest theyve had this season and tied for the fifth-fewest by any team in a single quarter this season.

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They shot just 3 of 17 (17.6 percent) with a whopping 10 turnovers in the quarter.

The 76ers, who entered the game as 9.5-point favorites at BetMGM, covered the spread by a few points.

The game went well under its 223.5 point total, with the two teams combining for 207 points.