The 76ers finally won a game

At long last, the Philadelphia 76ers have a win. It wasn’t pretty, to say the least, but after 17 straight losses to start the season, Philadelphia defeated a shorthanded Minnesota Timberwolves team missing three starters, 85-77.

It was an ugly game fitting for two teams woefully short on talent. It began when they lined up on the wrong sides on the opening tip, forcing a restart after 16 seconds. It featured a 34-32 halftime score after the 76ers scored just nine second-quarter points. It ended with both teams shooting a combined 37 percent from the field.

But in the end, the 76ers made just enough plays after quickly surrendering a five-point lead with four minutes left. KJ McDaniels hit a corner three after Mo Williams gave Minnesota the lead, and Michael Carter-Williams quickly pushed it to three with a righty layup out of a timeout. After a Gorgui Dieng bucket, Robert Covington, recently signed after being waived by Houston, hit a wing three-pointer to put Philly up four with a minute left. A Carter-Williams/Nerlens Noel lob on the next play put Philly up six and sealed the victory.

The 76ers were predictably elated.

The Timberwolves were not.

One win does not change the fact that this Sixers team is on its way to becoming one of the worst teams in NBA history. The record for most losses in a season is held by the 1972-73 Sixers, who dropped 73 games that year. If this year’s Sixers don’t eclipse that mark, it will be a surprise. Prior to their win over the Timberwolves, the Sixers still had a point differential of -14.7. The lowest number in the history of the league is -15.2, which was set by 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks. Coming into the game, Philadelphia was scoring just 93.6 points per 100 possessions. The lowest mark in league history is 92.2, which was set by the 2002-03 Denver Nuggets and 1976-77 Nets.

Of course, it’s no accident that the Sixers have arrived at this point. All this futility is the result of a strategy mapped by the team’s owner, Josh Harris, and General Manager, Sam Hinkie. When the former hired the latter in 2013, a plan was decided: the team would do every thing it could to lose as many games as possible in the short term. The goal would be to land in the draft lottery with the best odds possible of getting high draft picks.

The plan was put into action just two months after Hinkie was hired when the Sixers shipped All-Star guard Jrue Holiday, along with a second round pick, to the New Orleans Hornets (now Pelicans), in exchange for Nerlens Noel and a 2014 first round pick. Noel had been selected that year by the Hornets with the sixth pick in the draft, but he was coming off a major ACL injury. He missed the entire 2013-14 season.

In the 2014 draft, the Sixers followed a similar path when they selected Joel Embiid No. 3 overall. Embiid is still recovering from a stress fracture to his foot that he suffered last year and has yet to play in a game. The Sixers used their second first round pick, which they acquired in the Holiday deal the year before, in a deal with the Orland Magic to acquire Croatian prospect Dario Saric. Saric is currently playing in the Turkish Basketball League; the 76ers hope he comes to the NBA in two years.

Because of the Sixers’ strategy, NBA officials have looked into changing the draft lottery rules. In October, the league put a new system up to a vote. That reform was, surprisingly, rejected, but it is assumed that, in order to prevent other teams from following in the Sixers’ path, changes to the draft lottery will eventually be made.

For one night, though, 76ers fans can forget all that and enjoy a victory.