Rough Night for Philadelphia Fans as 76ers Blow 19 Point Lead and Flyers Get Blown Out

St. Patrick’s Day 2021 is one that Philadelphia sports fans would like to forget after two memorable for all the wrong reasons 76ers and Flyers games.

The 76ers, without the injured Joel Embiid, hosted the Milwaukee Bucks in a matchup of two of the better teams in the NBA Eastern Conference. Milwaukee had a terrible first half, shooting just 1 for 17 from three point range and the Sixers went into the locker room at halftime with a 14 point lead. The Bucks trailed 52-33 with 9:42 to go in the third quarter, and then started crawling back, cutting the lead to nine at the end of the third quarter. The Bucks tied the score at 76-76 with 8:41 left in the fourth quarter, and the teams traded the lead the rest of the way until the 76ers tied it up at 93-93 with 1.1 seconds left, sending the game to overtime. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 10 of his game high 32 points in the extra frame, and the Bucks won 109-105. The 76ers (28-13) dropped into a tie for the Eastern Conference with Brooklyn as the Nets won at Indiana. Milwaukee (26-14) has won nine of ten and trails the leaders by a game and a half.

While the 76ers were playing at home, the Flyers were in New York for a game with the Rangers. The Flyers did not follow the 76ers path and blow a big lead; instead they were absolutely blown out themselves 9-0. Philadelphia trailed by a manageable 2-0 after the first period, but the second period was something else again. The Rangers scored seven times, led by a Mika Zibanejad hat trick and two goals by Pavel Buchnevich for a 9-0 lead at the end of the period. Somehow, the Rangers were held scoreless in the third period and didn’t reach double figures in goals. Zibanejad had three assists in the 2nd period and tied an NHL record with six points in one period.

The entire Rangers coaching staff missed the game due to COVID-19 protocol. The head coach of the Rangers’ AHL team in Hartford was called up to fill in, and had a pretty easy time of it as the team had its largest margin of victory in a game in 35 years. We’re not sure what conclusions about the New York coaching staff can be drawn from that.