Sixers Caught in a Thunderstorm, Fall 125-92

By Sean Kennedy

When you hear the sound of thunder, don’t you get too scared. Well, the Sixers couldn’t find their thunder buddy Tuesday night, as the tandem of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook brought the noise to serve Philadelphia its 15th-straight loss. Both stars were done for the night by the third quarter in the blowout and still managed to put up incredible numbers. Durant hit his first 7 field goals of the game and had 19 points before finally missing a shot with just under three minutes remaining in the first half. He would finish with 42 points on 14-20 shooting and 9 rebounds (again, not playing at all in the fourth quarter).

Durant’s running mate Russell Westbrook put up possibly even more sensational numbers on a per-minute basis, recording a triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists in just 20 minutes of play. The dynamic point guard had double-digit assists by halftime and switched gears and scored 8 points in the third quarter as he and Michael Carter-Williams got into a jawing match. Westbrook more or less elbowed MCW on a drive to the hoop, which started the Sixers rookie chirping in on him. Never needing much of a reason to get fired up, Westbrook began going right at MCW on every possession, and yelling at the Sixers bench after big plays. It was definitely the most heated I’ve seen a player be when his team is up over 20 in a mundane regular season game. But that’s the fire that fuels Westbrook, which can be a double-edged sword at times.

Offensively, the Sixers struggled against the length of the Thunder, who were starting the 6’11” Perry Jones at shooting guard and Durant at the 3 (who’s 7-foot tall  regardless of what they list him at). Forays to the rim by the likes of MCW, Thad Young, and Tony Wroten were often either blocked or diverted enough to force bad shots. The only saving grace for much of the game was the phenomenal outside shooting of James Anderson. One night after getting a standing ovation at the Oklahoma State game, his alma mater, Anderson was certainly enjoying some home cooking with a team-high 20 points. Anderson hit 4 threes in the first quarter and finished with 14 points in the period, finishing 6-12 from behind the arc on the night. Maybe the Sixers can bring some Oklahoma City BBQ back to the Wells Fargo Center for their game against the Jazz Saturday night; they’ll need all the help they can get to finally break this losing skid.

Box Score

Notable Observations:

• Given the talent disparity between themselves and their opponents, the Sixers can’t afford to make pointless mental mistakes, but yet, they keep doing just that. Case in point: with the first quarter winding down, Tony Wroten drove the ball into lane starting with about 8 seconds left (way too much time). After he was blocked at the rim by Perry Jones, the Thunder had enough time for Kevin Durant to grab the ball and chuck it downcourt to Jeremy Lamb for a lay-in before time expired. You have to make sure in those situations that you’re getting the last shot, but that’s just emblematic of the little things the Sixers aren’t doing out on the court to help themselves out.
• To give credit where credit is due, Byron Mullens had his pop-a-shot game working in the third quarter, hitting three triples and recording 13 of his 15 points in the frame. It’s all well and good when your 7-footer is hitting the three-pointers he’s chucking up with 15 seconds left on the shot clock, but given that he’s a 30% career three-point shooter, we shouldn’t come to expect these results from Mullens.
• After being a DNP-CD against the Magic, Arnett Moultrie finally got back on the floor in fourth quarter garbage time against the Thunder. It really says something when you can’t see minutes for a Sixers team signing guys off the street and giving them significant playing time. By all accounts, Brett Brown has never been happy with Moultrie’s conditioning work or commitment to the defensive end. I certainly don’t see any fire from the Sixers’ big man and none of this bodes well for his future in the league.

Tanking Implications:

Even before the Sixers stripped the roster down barer than a Bourbon Street working girl, they likely weren’t beating the Thunder. Still, it would have been nice to see them put up a bit more of a fight, maybe force Durant and Westbrook to actually step on the floor in the final quarter. Even Oklahoma City’s second unit outplayed the Sixers; Hasheem Thabeet had only scored 12 points combined on the season coming into this game but dropped 7 points in the fourth and was given a standing ovation by the crowd and Thunder bench. Having Durant and Westbrook beat you is one thing, but that sort of thing should just be embarrassing to the Sixers. James Anderson and Byron Mullens were the only ones who really did anything positive on the evening and that sort of shooting isn’t something sustainable to build upon. Only 21 more of these games to wade through until the lottery. 3/5 tanks.