Wanna hear the most surprising stat of the night? Before this win against the Thunder tonight, the Philadelphia 76ers were on a 19-game losing streak to OKC dating back to November, 2008! Actually, it’s only their second win ever against the Thunder in franchise history.
I chose to cover this game because it’d be a TNT showdown of hungry dual-conference stars. I was only half-right, as each side elected to sit crucial players in Paul George and Joel Embiid. Those just happen to be their best players in this 2019 season, which was a huge bummer from a fan perspective. Also, it's a damn shame we didn't get to see any aggressive body language exchanges between Russ and Embiid.
Regardless, we got an entertaining back-and-forth between two squads that were trying wholeheartedly for the full 48 in a game that hovered around a ten-point deficit much of the time. Philadelphia got this W thanks to big nights from Tobias Harris (32-5-3-1-1 on a solid 11/19 shooting with one turnover), Jimmy Butler (20-8-8-2, 9/20 shooting), and Ben Simmons (11-13-11, 9/5 shooting). The Thunder missed Paul George’s MVP attack tonight, as Russ couldn't shoulder the whole load. Check out the Rhythm of the Game and Takeaways below!
Rhythm Of The Game
The first quarter went by at a relatively quickened pace. Before we crossed the ten-point mark it was practically dead-even, but the Sixers managed to pull off a mini scoring outburst thanks to their falling three. Ben Simmons was everywhere on the offensive end, a predictable sight given Joel Embiid’s absence tonight. Since Paul George was out for the Thunder, it’d be a battle of the superstar point guards in Westbrook and Simmons. Sixers with the lead after one, 37-26.
Philly held them at a stiff arm’s distance for the first six minutes of the second. That Oklahoma crowd was just anxious to break out for a Thunder run, but OKC’s offense wasn’t getting buckets at key momentum-swinging moments. Their defense was stout though. Mike Scott, Jonah Bolden, Tobias Harris, and Ben Simmons were just in this hell of a shooting/off-ball cutting/facilitating rhythm. They were getting outscored in the paint by thirteen points without Embiid’s colossal presence, but they were still up by that middling length of eleven points, 60-49.
After some uninspired play to start the third, Jeremi rant spurred the Thunder to a 12-0 run to cut it to two! OKC was on the edge of breaking out! But right when they were within grasp of the game, Russell Westbrook threw up a couple of classic Westbrookian bricks, and Philly converted at the other end to dull the crowd energy.
We were looking at an 11-point Sixers lead heading into the fourth until Nerlens Noel and Dennis Schroeder put a couple buckets on the board for OKC. In twelve minutes, we would soon find out if the offense could wake up without Paul George’s help. Westbrook was dealing with a head/neck and hip injury to boot. Both were incurred in this Thursday night game.
And just like that, we got a 9-0 Thunder run to kick the final period off! They were punching and prodding, getting it to within two multiple times but the Sixers always had that timely bucket in response. Even when they tied it up at 93, Harris drained a three to give Philly space! They led by as much as 16 in the first half, but the Thunder defense kept them hanging around. Four more minutes to go in this one.
This was make it or break it time for the Thunder. What materialized next was a mixture of excellent Philly defense, careless Thunder ball protection, and a series of skillful Sixer baskets. Tobias Harris sank a three to cap his scorecard at 32, while Simmons found Butler underneath the basket for a wide-open dunk off a spinning drive. We were once again at a ten-point Philadelphia advantage with under two minutes to go, 103-93.
I honestly thought OKC was dead in the water. Russell and the boys proved me wrong QUICK. All it took was a Jeremi Grant three, a couple Westbrook free throws, and a Terrence Ferguson drive to cut it to three, 103-100! All in the span of one minute of game time! We had a game on our hands people!
But on the very next possession, the Thunder stupidly left Mike Scott wiiiiide open for a three, 106-103. Westbrook got the ball and laid it up quickly for a fast two, leaving the ball back in Philly’s hands. Ben Simmons had the ball looking to outlet under the hoop – but he turned it over to Westbrook! That sent Russ back at the line with a four-point game, where he hit them both to make the deficit only two! Fifteen seconds left in the whole game…Jimmy Butler with the ball….pulls up on the right baseline for the fadeaway and it rims! Simmons regained possession of the rebound though, which was HUUUUUGE. He passed it out safely this time, which put the Thunder in a position of having to foul with a two-point game and two seconds to play. They sank them both to escape from the Chesapeake Energy Arena with the narrow win despite missing Joel, 108-104.
Takeaways
I guess the main, obvious takeaway is the state of the Thunder offense when Paul George doesn’t play. Russell Westbrook was tasked with running the game solo like he did during his MVP season, only unlike his MVP season, his 2019 scoring struggles persisted. The final line was 23-11-11-1-1 with four turnovers on 8/24 shooting. Yikes on the shooting! This is a typical FG% line for Russ this season. He’s shooting 42.5% on the season, but low-efficiency nights such as these are becoming less surprising by the week. That’s why Paul George’s top tier offense was sorely missed.
As for Philadelphia, their trade deadline pickup of Tobias Harris continues to pay dividends. Harris led all Sixers with 32-5-3-1-1 on a solid 11/19 shooting with one turnover. They didn’t even miss Joel Embiid’s offense that much because they still had Harris and Butler. Ben Simmons also put up an 11-13-11-2-2 triple double on 5/9 shooting.
Mike Scott was a bright spot off the bench tonight. The man only poured in nine points and three boards, but each of those nine points was a crucial three-pointer when the team needed it most, including a fourth quarter semi-dagger. I’m honestly jealous we don’t have someone like him on the Lakers.
You can only take away so much from these squads who were missing key players tonight. We didn’t get the full force of either side because of injuries. We can take away that the Sixers are way more equipped to keep the machine running when one star player is missing compared to the Thunder. Sub out Joel Embiid or Harris, Simmons, or Butler and I think the Sixers still get that win tonight. OKC got a great game form Jeremi Grant in George’s absence (23-6-6, 10/17), and a nice stat line from new member Markieff Morris in addition (17-4, 7/12). Maybe George’s absence was a godsend, since it freed up time for Morris and Grant to gel with each other.
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