76ers vs. Thunder: 3 Things That Stood Out on Thursday

What stood out for the Sixers in their matchup against the Thunder?

Coming off of two outstanding performances against the Detroit Pistons, the Philadelphia 76ers were served a piece of humble pie on Thursday night in South Philly.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were in town for the first and only time this year. When the Sixers and the Thunder met back on New Year’s Eve, the shorthanded Sixers got the best of the Thunder and rang in the New Year with a big-time victory.

This time around, the Thunder were out for revenge and found success. While there were some moments the Sixers teased a possible comeback, the Thunder had control of the matchup from start to finish. And in the end, Oklahoma City made it out of Philadelphia with their 19th win of the year by taking down the Sixers 133-114.

Here’s what stood out during the matchup:

Another Heater From a Star

Look, stars in the NBA are going to get their points, and that’s understandable. But lately, the Sixers’ struggles to even slow down stars have pretty much been the main contribution to their losses.

When Philly came up short against New Orleans on December 30, the star tandem of CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson combined for 78 points. Fast forward to last Friday’s loss against Chicago, and the Sixers gave up 41 points to Zach LaVine in 38 minutes.

On Thursday, it was Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who gave the Sixers’ defense a tough time. Checking in for nearly 35 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down 63 percent of his shots from the field. And with frequent trips to the charity stripe, the young star garnered 16 opportunities to take free throws, which he capitalized on every single time.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished Thursday’s game with 37 points in 34 minutes. To say the Sixers struggled to guard the young guard would be an understatement.

Did the Sixers Overlook the Thunder?

Anytime a playoff contender loses to a team that would be overachieving if they make the postseason, this becomes a fair question. The Sixers are coming off back-to-back wins against the undermanned Detroit Pistons, who are likely a bottom-of-the-conference team in the East even when they are healthy.

Perhaps, the Sixers overlooked the 19-23 Thunder on Thursday night after dominating the 12-33 Pistons twice in two games. The Sixers looked relaxed at the start of Thursday’s game, and not exactly in a good way.

Philadelphia made up for allowing an OKC early run but fell behind and trailed by double digits after the second quarter. There was urgency at the start of the second half, but the Sixers’ early second-half success wasn’t sustained. Maybe the Sixers thought they could form a fourth-quarter comeback, as they’ve done in the past.

But on Thursday night, the Thunder were successful in preventing that from happening, proving that they shouldn’t be overlooked by anybody.

Landing in Foul Trouble

The Sixers had the game tied after the first quarter. In the second quarter, they lost control a bit and started trailing by as many as 15 points. The biggest standout factor of that quarter was the absence of the superstar big man, Joel Embiid. 

Picking up two fouls in his first nine minutes on the court, Embiid appeared on the floor for just 26 seconds in the second quarter. The Sixers got four minutes of Montrezl Harrell before offering Paul Reed seven minutes of action.

Combined, the two bigs were a minus-ten. More playing time for Embiid in a critical second quarter could probably be a difference-maker, but the Sixers need him down the stretch more than anything. While Embiid’s foul trouble was the biggest factor, the Sixers’ overall struggles in the fouling department were critical for the loss. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.