Westbrook Carries Thunder Past Sixers in Overtime

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Oklahoma City 123, Philadelphia 118 (OT) – Box Score

Mask or no mask, Russell Westbrook is a superhero. Just 4 days after undergoing surgery for a facial fracture, Oklahoma City’s MVP candidate stepped back on the court looking to do all he could to keep his team in the playoff hunt. Westbrook wore a mask to protect his recently repaired face, but if there was any doubt he would hold anything back, he dispelled that notion about as quickly as a human being can race 94 feet.

https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.jsThat was Westbrook wielding a sledgehammer of fury as part of a 20-2 Oklahoma City run to end the first quarter and get the Thunder back into the game. He had 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists before the second period even began. Westbrook brought more of the same throughout the game, and while he eventually needed overtime to get there, he recorded his 4th straight triple-double with a career-high 49 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists.

Wait, but if Westbrook had such an otherworldly performance, how did the game even go to overtime? That’s because despite one of the best players in the NBA having one of the best games of his career, the Sixers went toe-to-toe with him the whole way, never quitting in what what easily the most entertaining game of the year. It started early on with the long-range pyrotechnics of Isaiah Canaan. The Sixers’ new point guard drained his first 5 threes, all in the first quarter, eventually hitting 8 of 13 threes on his way to a career-high 31 points. While Canaan may never be the point guard the team needs (he dribbles purposelessly a good bit of the time), he’s certainly proven he can excel as a shooter in off-the-ball situations.

As the game progressed, an even unlikelier hero emerged for the Sixers. Jason Richardson, who as you may recall was uncertain to ever return to the NBA again as recently as a few months ago, became the stabilizing force of the offense. Not only did J-Rich hit 4 of 9 threes for 29 points, his highest total since February of 2012 when he was with the Magic, he found Nerlens Noel for this gem of an assist:https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js

Then, after the Thunder had gone on an 18-0 run and looked to have taken control of the game (largely against the Sixers bench which was horrific, Henry Sims was somehow -29 in just 10 minutes), Richardson led the comeback in the final minutes. With the Sixers down 9 with under 2 minutes remaining in regulation, J-Rich drained 2 of the team’s 3 triples, including one with 29 seconds left to tie the game while he was acting as the de-facto point guard. A 34-year-old who looked to be out of the league playing 36 minutes and making huge plays was arguably a bigger story than a MVP candidate putting up Jordan-esque numbers.

When it was all said and done, yet another extended scoring drought in overtime (scoreless for the first 3 and a half minutes) proved to be too much to overcome. The Sixers did continue to fight back and even had a good look at a potential game-tying three from Jason Richardson on their last possession, but it wasn’t to be. Fans will have to take solace in a few key things:

1) Nerlens Noel, while struggling offensively, had another dominant defensive performance with 13 rebounds, 4 steals, and 5 blocks.

2) Ultimately, this loss helped not one, but two of the Sixers’ first-round draft picks. Not only are the Sixers just a half game ahead of New York for the league’s worst record, but Oklahoma City is now tied Washington for the 12 best record in the league. So as of right now, the Sixers would get the Thunder’s pick in this next draft.

3) Brett Brown has this team playing hard; these players are not tanking. They’ll be back at it Friday night against Utah.