Sixers Cannot Stop the God of Thunder in 103-91 OKC Win

By Sean Kennedy

After sitting out Friday night’s game with a minor shoulder injury, I was worried I wouldn’t have the opportunity to watch the NBA’s leading scorer Kevin Durant out on the Wells Fargo floor against the Sixers. Well, Durant played and, boy, did he ever put on a show. Durant finished with 32 points, marking his 10th straight game with 30 or more points, in addition to 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his 5th-career triple double. It was the second straight night the Sixers allowed an opposing player to record a triple-double, and while Lowry went about his somewhat quietly, there was nothing quiet about KD Saturday night. Taking those huge strides to finish with one dribble from the foul line in transition, draining silky smooth jumpers from 18 feet, and throwing in a few thunderous throw-downs for good measure, the full offensive arsenal was on display against Philadelphia. The Sixers gave 5 different players a crack at defending Durant and no one had the answer; that’s just how it goes most nights for Thunder opponents these days.

However, it wasn’t a one-man show for Oklahoma City; it was, in fact, a 2-man show. There were only 2 Thunder players who had made more than one field goal by halftime, Durant and Serge Ibaka. Ibaka finished with 25 points on 12-16 shooting, defying modern analytics by sinking all of his mid-range jumpers but one. He also had 11 rebounds and 5 blocks on the game to anchor the Thunder interior defense. 4 of those blocks were so earth-shatteringly forceful that they through the Sixers’ player to the ground with the impact. Thad Young was the victim of two of those seismic collisions and you had to admire the Sixers’ willingness to continue challenging the Thunder big man, but Ibaka was just a force of nature.

Really, no one could fault the effort of the Sixers on the game as the team was working hard defensively, diving on loss balls, and grabbing a ton of offensive rebounds (19 to just 9 for the Thunder). Thad Young alone had a career-high 8 steals. Unfortunately, you still have to be able to put the ball in the basket and not a single starter shot better than 44% from the floor. James Anderson led the team with 19 points but he couldn’t even buy a shot from the perimeter, going 1-7 from three as the entire team shot just 19% from downtown.  The team made a 9-0 run in the third to cut the deficit to 4 but that’s as close as they would get the rest of the way. You need to bring your ‘A’ game when facing this year’s likely MVP and the Sixers just didn’t have it Saturday night.

Box Score

Notable Observations:

• Tony Wroten returned to the lineup and scored 9 points with 3 turnovers, driving to the hoop for a few nice finishes but also unnecessarily forcing the action at times. You know, basically being Tony Wroten. His on-court battle with Derek Fisher was fun to watch as I couldn’t imagine a greater disparity in the apparent energy level two players emit out on the court. It was like watching a high-schooler go against a guy in a 40-and-over men’s rec league: sometimes veteran savvy won out and sometimes raw youthfulness did.
• The Sixers had a possession in the second quarter where they collected 4 offensive rebounds but missed 5 shots (4 of them threes). I tweeted out that the sequence was a perfect metaphor for this season: a group of guys trying hard but without the baseline talent to get the job done.
• When Evan Turner went into locker room with some back issues, Molly Sullivan credited Sergei the back therapist with helping him get back out on the court. Naturally, I needed to know more about this Sergei character. Turns out he was formerly employed by the USSR women’s handball team. I bet that man has some stories.

Tanking Implications:

Plenty of energy and heart from the young guys if not shooting prowess. Elliot Williams had a couple assertive forays to the cup, Anderson had a solid game overall, and it just warmed the heart to see Wroten back out there. The Sixers currently sit with the third-worst record in basketball and gave one of the western conference’s best a fairly competitive game, not a bad night for tanking advocates. 4/5 tanks