The Philadelphia 76ers entered the record books for all the wrong reasons yet again Sunday, this time for tying the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets for the worst start in NBA history (0-18) after their92-84loss against the Memphis Grizzlies.In addition to tying the NBA's worst start to a season, the Sixers extended their record for the longest losing streak in major American professional sports to 28 games, dating back to last year, per ESPN Stats & Info.Making matters even worse for the franchise, Philadelphia owns two of the three worst starts in NBA history, per Jeff Skversky of WPVI-TV:Going even deeper into the sadness of Philadelphia sports right now, John Clark of CSNPhiladelphia tweeted out a crazy piece of information regarding all professional teams in the City of Brotherly Love:The 76ers players haven't quit, despite their futility, and even held a lead midway through the fourth quarter Sunday. But their inability to close games has become another source of misery. Philadelphia's last five losses have come by a combined26 points, so the rainbow is in the pictureeven if it is beyond the horizon. Derek Bodner of Philadelphia Magazine and Draft Express seems to see some light at the end of the tunnel for the Sixers.The 76ers showed signs of life after halftime, surpassing their point total from the first 24 minutes (31) in the third quarter alone (36), and looked as though they were on the right path. Instead, a poor fourth quarter (17 points) ended in the history-making defeat.Sixers point guard Isaiah Canaan did all he could to get the team over the hump with shots like this, per the NBA's official Twitter account:Even though Canaan didn't have a great shooting day, hitting five of his 15 attempts, fourof his made field goals were three-pointers.Making matters worse for the 76ers, 2015 first-round pick Jahlil Okafor has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. He was reportedly stopped for speeding while driving 108 mph on the Ben Franklin Bridge three weeks ago, per Keith Pompey of thePhiladelphia Inquirer.That report came three days after TMZ posted a videoclaiming to show Okafor involved in a fight outside of a Boston bar and two days after Pompey reported a separate October incident in which the former Duke star reportedly had a gun pointed at him following an exchange of words outside a Philadelphia club.Things have gotten so out of hand for Okafor that he decided to issue an apology on Twitter for his recent actions:I hold myself to a higher standard than anyone else ever could and I'm not proud of some of my decisions over the last few months.I own my choices both personally and now publicly. At this point I am cooperating and respecting the process I have to go through.Going forward I don't want to be a distraction for my team and am grateful for the support and guidance those close to me are giving.I am 100% focused on my responsibility to the League, my teammates and fans.The Sixers drafted Okafor third overall and expect him to be a huge part of their future, but he has a lot of work to do off the court before becoming a consistent impact player on it.The 76ers and Grizzlies combined for51turnovers and shot40.5 percent from the floor in an ugly game Sunday. With theworst offense in the NBA, Philadelphia will likely have to win a similar battle to end its losing streak.Former Nets assistant general manager Bobby Marks pointed out onemajor difference between this year's 76ers and the 2009-10 Nets:This was the Sixers' reaction after the loss:The Sixers' next game is at home Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers. As bad as Philadelphia has been this season, the Lakers had only two wins entering play Sunday.Tuesday's matchup is going to be another ugly battle and may represent Philadelphia's best chance to enter the win column before 2016.
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