The culprit once again was a slow start. The Sixers found themselves trailing, 31-14, a little more than two minutes into the second quarter, marking the third consecutive game they had fallen behind by 14 or more points in the first half.
So by the time they managed a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter to take an 80-79 lead with 3 minutes, 9 seconds to play, the gauge on their gas tank was pointing to "E."
After taking the advantage, the Sixers came up empty on four straight possessions - a missed shot by Andre Iguodala, two bricked free throws by Willie Green, and turnovers by Andre Miller and Kyle Korver - and the Bobcats took the lead to stay.
"That's our Achilles' heel right now, those slow starts," said Green, who led the Sixers with 19 points. "It's hard to battle back the whole game against any team in the NBA and have enough gas at the end to win it.
"Tonight was evidence of that. We battled back, but when you're a little bit tired, you don't execute as well, you don't get your legs into your shot as well. All of this is stemming from getting down early in the game."
Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks preferred not to play the "out-of-gas" card.
"You know what? It's just part of the game," Cheeks said. "I can't say getting tired is the reason why we missed jump shots, missed free throws. It's part of the game. If you put yourself in the hole, you have to find a way to get yourself out of it, which we did. When you get a chance to make foul shots, you have to go up there and make them."
The Sixers' rally was fueled by a pair of technical fouls with 3:11 to play, one against Bobcats rookie Adam Morrison and the other against Charlotte assistant coach John-Blair Bickerstaff. Korver drained both free throws, and Miller lobbed the inbounds pass to Samuel Dalembert for a layup that gave the Sixers a one-point lead.
