76ers blow big 4th-quarter lead, fall to 0-16

For the second time in three games, the Philadelphia 76ers watched a double-digit lead evaporate in the fourth quarter, losing 84-80 to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night to remain winless on the season.

On Saturday night, the Sixers led the Miami Heat by as many as 17 points, and continued to lead by 11 with just over seven minutes left in regulation. They scored four points the rest of the way and lost by five. On Wednesday, with the Celtics' offense gone arctic, Philly again led by 11 in the fourth, this time with six minutes to play. They scored three points the rest of the way and lost by four. They shot 1-for-8 and turned the ball over six times in that span. They coughed it up 15 times in the second half alone.

Isaiah Thomas did most of the damage for the Celtics on this night, scoring 30 points - including 11 in the fourth - on 11-of-21 shooting, adding six assists, and registering a plus-17 rating in 39 minutes.

For Philadelphia's rookie big man Jahlil Okafor, another strong game went for naught. He put up 19 points, hauled in nine rebounds, and blocked four shots in the losing effort.

And so it is that the Sixers, who lost their final 10 games last season, fell to 0-16 and ran their cumulative losing streak to 26 games. Two seasons ago, they tied the all-time NBA record by dropping 27 straight. Last year, they opened 0-17 and came a loss short of tying the record for longest losing streak to open a season.

They'll have to win one of their next two games to avoid setting new benchmarks for ineptitude in both categories. Those games are both on the road, against the Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies.

With each mounting loss, The Process grows more difficult to trust. Somebody send Brett Brown a fruit basket.