(Associated Press)

The 76ers lost Tuesday to Brooklyn. They were outscored at the foul line by 13 points. You could argue that the free-throw discrepancy led to the Sixers' 20-point loss. And some in the organization took that route. Others didn't.

“I've never seen anything like it. I just haven't,” said Sixers coach Doug Collins, whose team went 6-for-10 at the line, compared to Brooklyn's 19-for-22 effort.

When prodded about whether it's just out of character for his guys to drive the lane...

“Guys, you're getting me in territory,” Collins said. “I don't want to talk about this because I'm going to get fined. You're taking me to a territory that, all of the sudden, the league is going to look at me and – I'm sorry, I can't. I hope you understand that. I'm not trying to dance or anything like that. The more questions you ask, the deeper the water gets.”

The Sixers' Evan Turner wasn't as diplomatic.

“We go to paint. There's no reason to keep talking about it. We go to paint,” Turner said. “There's no point in talking about it. When you go down and there's one foul and another foul that's not called. We go into the paint just as much as other teams. It's not new. For the past three years, we haven't really gotten calls. That's not on us anymore.

“We can talk about it. We get into the paint. We get hit, we get slapped. I know a bunch of people got scratches and bruises all on their body. It's not from angel kisses. You can't worry about what you can't control.”

The Sixers (15-21) rank 28th in the NBA in free-throws made and free-throws attempted. So don't just take the Sixers at their word. Judge for yourselves.