Last night was supposed to be Jimmy Butler’s coming out party, but instead we’re sitting here talking about the same problem we were talking about last week and last year.

The Sixers blew another huge lead, this time watching a 16-point fourth quarter advantage evaporate in front of dozens of people at the Amway Center. Orlando went on a 21-0 run and got a clutch three-pointer from Terrence Ross to close out the game in crunch time.

It was 92 to 76 at the 10:51 mark in the fourth quarter when the Magic ripped off seven straight points, forcing Brett Brown to use a timeout. That seemed like a no-brainer call for a team that looked static on offense and had just missed a three point shot after committing a turnover.

Another two minutes transpired as Orlando pulled ahead 95-92, and only then did Brown use a second timeout to try to stop the bleeding.

It shouldn’t have gotten to that point in the first place.

That timeout should have been used after Joel Embiid was blocked on a dunk attempt, resulting in a Ross three-pointer at the other end. The obviously rattled Sixers followed it up with another poor offensive possession and gave up another basket, which saw Orlando extend their lead even further.

Here’s the play in question:

Call the timeout right there.

Your team is obviously staggered after a sequence like that. Bring them over to the bench and regroup.

I feel like Brett sometimes lets these things go on for an extra possession or two while his team flounders on the court. Sure, he used that first timeout when the run was at 7-0, but didn’t call the second until Orlando had put 12 more points on the board. He had four timeouts in his pocket when the run began, so it wasn’t like there was a concern of burning through every timeout. He’s not Andy Reid. And while I appreciate the fact that Brown likes to allow his guys to play through their slumps and figure it out on their own, sometimes you just have to stop the clock to let a guy like Ross simply cool off for a bit.

Even then, it wasn’t like the Sixers were smooth to finish the game. Wilson Chandler had to bail out the squad with three ridiculous buckets in the span of something like two minutes, first hitting a tough floater in traffic, then a 27-foot three pointer, followed by a baseline reverse dunk off the dribble. He then came out of the game for Mike Muscala due to the minutes restriction he was given as a result of his preseason hamstring injury.

The Sixers had some chances late, drawing up an inverted pick and roll and some DHO action for JJ Redick, who committed an offensive foul on the first play and stepped out of bounds on the second.

Result = bad loss.

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