The Sixers did not go away quietly against the San Antonio Spurs.
With under a minute to play, the Sixers had an opportunity to close the deficit to three points but Alexey Shved missed a layup. Kawhi Leonard converted a three-point play at the opposite end to put the Sixers away in a 109-103 loss.
The loss dropped the Sixers to 0-17, just one away from tying the worst start ever in NBA history.
Tim Duncan and Tony Parker were inactive for San Antonio. Nerlens Noel and Tony Wroten were sidelined with a hip flexor and sprained knee, respectively, for the Sixers.
Turning point
The Sixers did a decent job defending the Spurs in the first quarter as they held San Antonio to 37.9 percent shooting.
The second quarter was a totally different story. The Spurs shot 65.0 percent from the field and 80.0 percent from three-point range to help push their lead from seven points to 15 at the break.
NBA
San Antonio's 15-point halftime lead was needed because the Sixers outscored the Spurs by nine points in the second half.
Follow the leader
Leonard is the Spurs’ future All-Star. The 2014 NBA Finals MVP led the Spurs with 26 points and 10 rebounds. He also had four assists.
Aron Baynes, who started in Duncan's place, scored 15 points and grabbed nine boards.
Michael Carter-Williams led the Sixers with 24 points. He also had 11 rebounds and seven assists.
Shved had a season-high 19 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists. He was 7 for 16 from the field.
Stat-egic
The Spurs had 14 turnovers, including five in the fourth quarter. The Sixers turned the ball over 10 times in the game.
Take a bow
Jerami Grant appeared in his second NBA game. He wowed the crowd late in the third quarter with a one-handed dunk after he ripped the ball right out of Austin Daye's hands.
Grant played a total of 13 minutes and finished with four points and three rebounds.
What's next?
The Sixers travel to Minnesota for a Wednesday game against the Timberwolves.
The Timberwolves have just four wins, and they are banged up. They are missing their leading scorer in Kevin Martin (20.4 ppg), leading rebounder in Nikola Pekovic (8.1 rpg) and top assist man in Ricky Rubio (10.0 apg).
It will be the first opportunity to see former Sixer Thaddeus Young playing for the opposition during the regular season. Young is the team's second-leading scorer with 13.9 points per game.