BARKLEY TAKES GAME AWAY FROM BULLETS (2024)

The Bullets (14-23) folded like a broke poker player after taking a 14-point halftime lead and a 12-point edge well into the third quarter. They let Philadelphia (17-21) stay close, even with Barkley sitting the final 6:29 of the third period.

The Bullets couldn't handle Philadelphia's halfcourt trap throughout the fourth quarter, going without a field goal for the first 7:05 of the quarter. The 76ers just went to Barkley, who scored 15 of his game-high 30 points in the final period.

"Maybe we were just a little more active," said 76ers guard Hersey Hawkins, whose 21 points included three energizing three-pointers. "When you're down, all you're trying to do is scrap and get your hands on a couple of balls, create some chaos, and we were able to do that."

"We didn't handle it very well at all," Bullets Coach Wes Unseld said. "The things we're supposed to do against {the trap}, I don't know, I thought we looked timid. We didn't want to attack it. It's just wanting to get the ball. We had some guys that I thought didn't want it.

"We'd get the ball to the middle and the guy we got it to wouldn't even look to do anything. That guy is a very important part of our offense. He was hesitant for some reason."

He was referring to Harvey Grant, who when he did shoot made only three of 13 attempts.

Said Grant: "I blame it on myself. I'm a shooter and I should have taken the shots."

Pervis Ellison led Washington with 28 points and 16 rebounds. Adams scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half, and A.J. English contributed 15.

You attack a halfcourt trap by passing the ball to the middle of the court and going from there. But the Bullets often found themselves with the ball on the sidelines, where the sideline acts as a third defender.

And Barkley was able to leave his man and gamble for steals, or trap people in the corner with the shot clock running down.

"Sometimes you second-guess yourself," Ellison said, in reference to 7-foot-7 Manute Bol standing at the back of the 76ers' trap. "Because he's back there. He altered some shots and he blocked a couple. You're thinking about him as a team, and he took us out of our game."

"We weren't coming to the ball," Adams said. "All we were doing was turning the ball over and all they're doing is scoring. We didn't take over. Obviously, they have a guy that can do that."

Barkley had 10 points in a 15-4 run that turned an 89-81 Sixers deficit into a 96-93 lead with 3:38 to play. To their credit, the Bullets got off the deck, tying it and later taking the lead, 101-99, on an Ellison rebound basket with 1:39 to go.

Philadelphia's Ron Anderson (19 points) drove the lane and retied it with 1:21 to play. Each team then turned the ball over, and the Bullets would up with it with 45.8 seconds left.

But Bol saved his first block of the second half for a key moment, capping Larry Stewart underneath. Hawkins grabbed the loose ball, and the 76ers set up for the final shot. They isolated Barkley on Stewart on the left side.

Barkley backed in on Stewart, and Ellison came over for the double-team. But instead of going to the middle, Barkley spun over his right shoulder and faded away from the baseline.

Said Stewart: "He usually goes to the middle. He spun and I cut him off and he just turned back and made the shot. He really surprised me by going the other way. He spun real quick and there was nothing you could really do. The double was there."

"We wanted him to take the fadeaway," Ellison said, "because he was definitely getting fouled and going to the line any other time. We made him take a tough shot and it went through."

The Bullets had a chance to tie, and they got the ball into Stewart in the lane, with Bol guarding him.

But Barkley came across and swept the ball (and some arm, Stewart said) off Stewart's leg with 2.7 seconds left.

Hawkins made two free throws a second later to ice it.