What is the story about?
Well, that’s why you need to beat the Nets and the Bulls.
The Oklahoma City Thunder handed the Sixers their third loss in a row when they fell 129-104 Sunday afternoon.
Tyrese Maxey slowed down after a brilliant first quarter, leading the Sixers with 28 points, five assists and four steals shooting 10-of-18 from the floor. Paul George knocked down his threes but couldn’t do much else, putting up 12 points shooting 4-of-11.
VJ Edgecombe couldn’t get anything to fall, going for 10 points shooting 3-of-16
from the floor. Chet Holmgren led all scorers with 29.
Joel Embiid was out for this one with a right ankle sprain, alongside Kelly Oubre Jr. and Trendon Watford.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- Philly’s backcourt gave them the start they needed, with Maxey making his first couple shots of the game while poking the ball free a couple times on the other end. Edgecombe made his first jumper of the night, grabbed his own miss on his second that created second-chance points. They did not match up well to the Thunder’s size early though — OKC made their first seven shots and scored 10 of their first 16 points in the paint.
- Calling a timeout to stop a 7-0 Thunder run seemed to really help the Sixers settle in. They continued to be disruptive, following Maxey’s lead, forcing seven turnovers in the quarter. Andre Drummond improved with the Holmgren matchup, locking him up a couple times and posting him up on the other end once as well.
- Maxey was brilliant in the first from start to finish, only missing one shot on his way to a 15-point quarter. For as much as they were able to get into passing lanes to cause disruption, the Sixers weren’t really able to push the Thunder away from their spots, nor were their rotations super sharp. They shot an insane 13-of-18 from the field to jump out to three-point lead.
Second Quarter
- The Maxey-less minutes started about as poorly as they could have, with George missing his first four shots of the game badly. The offense looked hopeless trying to score. Strong hustle from Adem Bona, including a putback dunk, helped keep that unit alive. Justin Edwards did as well when he subbed in late for Quentin Grimes who had picked up three fouls. Edwards finally got a three to go down and picked up a stock for himself as well.
- A shootout is probably not what was expected for this one, but that’s exactly what the first half was. Both teams made good on the open threes they were generating. George finally was able to hit a pair, and Edwards took advantage of the attention Maxey to knock down his.
- The hot hand seemed to just be following Edwards — he nailed another three in Jalen Williams’ face to save a broken possession. For as little answers as the Thunder had for Maxey though, the Sixers had just as few for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who scored eight in the second half of the quarter, leading OKC to a two-point lead at the break.
Third Quarter
- The Sixers opened the second half similar to how they started the game, and that was having trouble inside. The Thunder got themselves a lot of easy lobs, and were getting to the line on possessions that didn’t end with easy baskets at the rim.
- George had bounced back from his 0-of-4 start, going on to make four straight threes across the half. The rest of the Sixers offense ran dry though. They went scoreless for nearly four minutes in the quarter. With OKC zeroing in on Maxey his shot selection sharply declined, having to work so hard to get each shot off.
- Especially a team as small as the Sixers, it feels like the Thunder defense can just keep teams out of the paint entirely if they choose. Their only three field goals over the last eight minutes of the third were three long threes and a Bona putback. Edgecombe was able to get into the lane on drives but nothing was falling for him. Jared McCain hit a three right before time expired to offer the slightest bit of momentum, but immediately fouling SGA undid that, giving the Thunder a 16-point lead after three.
Fourth Quarter
- The chances of a comeback only got slimmer with the Sixers not hitting the rare open shots they did get. A decrease in quality looks cooled down everyone from the first half. The doubles they could put on Maxey could take him out of possessions for minutes at a time.
- The only thing left worth monitoring as the Thunder pushed their lead up over 20 points was to see how long it would take for Nick Nurse to wave the white flag and specifically take Maxey out of the game. The league’s leader in minutes per game didn’t sub out until there was just three and a half minutes left despite no hope of a comeback materializing.
