James Harden's touches in the 4th:

10:54 bad pass turnover, steal by Toronto.
10:41 lost ball turnover, steal by Toronto.
10:26 offensive charge, turnover.
8:46 made two FT's.
7:43 missed three.

-Doc took Beard out. He was reinserted at 4:31-

2:26 two missed FT's.
:58.9 missed driving layup.
:07.1 rebound

-Sixers TO-

:02.7 flagrant foul, turnover.

James 4thQ stats: 2 points, 0/3 field shooting, 2/4 FT's, 1 rebound, 0 assists, 4 TO's with two of them coming on fouls. Just brutal.

Yes, James lost the game for the "Sixers" in the 4th. But: This was building throughout the game. Toronto massacred Philly on the boards 56-40, despite Joel's 13, and Joel was only 6/20 shooting.  Electric Maxey had a real nice game, 19 points on 8/14 (2/4). Future star, Electric. But you cannot have your Main Man taking 20 shots and making less than a third, not when you can't grab a board, and your second best guy has a 4th Q from hell. Real unnecessary loss for Phila at home tonight.

The competition at the top and middle of the East is intense, but getting less intense at the top. Last night Beer lost when they could have gained ground; tonight Philly lost when they could have gained ground. Any of the top four, Miami, Beer, Bell and Beans could win it, there's only 3.5 games from Miami to Beans. In the high middle Wind, Mistake, and Tonto are 5 through 7 and are within 1.5 of each other. Then there's the play-in triumvirate, BKLYN, Chazz, and ATL, 8-10 separated by 2 games. They have no reasonable chance to avoid the play-in. I know it's BKLYN, but I know it's BKLYN. They would have to win 4 more games than Cleveland in the last 11 and three more than Tonto in the last 11. The odds are very great that those three teams will not cooperate to squeeze the "Nets" into the top 6.

Bottom line: Miami's going to win the conference, Beer, Bell and Beans in some order will have home court advantage in the first round. Wind, Mistake and Tonto will play musical chairs and one of them will be left out. That one, even chance Tonto, will likely open the play-in against Atl and BKLYN will dispatch the Buzz. BKLYN will beat either Atl or Tonto to secure the final eighth playoff spot and will face Miami, a series which they reasonably could win. And that would be the ultimate ball-buster for MIA. Likely 50 wins, top seed, and a loss in the first round of the playoffs.