PHILADELPHIA — Kelly Oubre Jr. became an unintentional legend Wednesday night, expressing the sentiments of 20,000 outraged Sixers fans after two horrible non-calls cemented a loss that should’ve been a win.

He used an emasculating term that defines a female dog and rhymes with “witch,” the word we’ll use hereafter as a substitute. More memorably, Oubre used the word with a pointed eloquence, and even a measure of grace, and with eerie control, directly in the faces of the three officials whose injustices affected him personally and the Sixers is a whole as the teeming mob in the stands raged. For his frustrated supporters, the defeat was especially poignant.

That’s because the biggest witch in the arena walked away with an undeserved win. James Harden, the latest Philly sports traitor, had returned to town with the Los Angeles Clippers for the first time Wednesday night.

The scene:

In the final seconds of the game, Kawhi Leonard fouled Oubre with his left arm on Oubre’s right hip twice as Oubre drove to the basket. There, Leonard blocked his shot with such force that it became lodged between the rim and the backboard. He also hit Oubre’s wrists, but whatever.

The ensuing jump ball went the Sixers’ way, but when Oubre got possession, drove to the basket, and leaped, he was fouled by Paul George. It was pretty obvious. It came before the buzzer. The refs initially ruled that George had been vertical, and so the contact was legal, but they later admitted to a pool reporter that they’d blown the call.

What happened in between was mortifying and delightful and legendary.

First, as he sat on the floor and mayhem erupted around him, Oubre looked up at one official, caught his eye, and gave him the middle finger.

Oubre was not done.

As the officials gathered at midcourt postgame, head coach Nick Nurse, almost completely unhinged, approached them and offered a review of their efforts with vitriol and all sorts of colorful F-bombs. Oubre joined him, but with the composure of an assassin and the ease of a jazz poet.

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