OKLAHOMA CITY — Needing to sink in six free throws to keep a multi-possession distance on the scoreboard, reigning MVP Joel Embiid was ice cold as he switched in every attempt to fend off any hopes of an OKC comeback.
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s comeback attempt went in vain in their 127-123 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. The defeat snaps a six-game winning streak for the Thunder.
“Wasn’t our best game in the floor game but I thought we gave ourselves a chance to put a little game pressure on them,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the loss. “They made a couple of timely shots. I thought they handled the pressure pretty well.
“They made free throws so credit them how they closed it. I thought we pushed some of the right buttons out there on the court to give ourselves every chance to try to win.”
After playing it close for most of the first half, the Thunder entered halftime with a 65-61 deficit against the Sixers. In the third quarter, Philly added to its lead with an 18-5 run and entered the final frame with an 11-point lead.
“They delivered, they made some plays, they made some shots,” Daigneault said on the Sixers’ third-quarter run. “I thought we had a couple of self-inflicted mistakes.”
A 41-point fourth quarter helped OKC cut it to as little as two points thanks to a Holmgren pull-up 3-pointer, but with just five seconds left, there simply wasn’t enough time to build off of that.
The Thunder tried to extend the game by immediately fouling, but the Sixers kept knocking down their late free throws to keep distance on the scoreboard.
Overall, OKC shot 44% from the field and went 16-of-43 (37.2%) from 3. It enjoyed a frequent whistle as well. The Thunder shot 21-of-26 (80.8%) from the free-throw line. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 10 attempts.
The duo of Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren led the Thunder as each scored 30-plus points respectively and combined for 64 points on 55% shooting.
The Sixers shot 46% from the field and went 14-of-41 (34.1%) from 3. Philly made a living to get to the line in its win. It went a ridiculous 37-of-45 (82.2%) from the line — which featured Embiid taking a game-high 21 attempts and Tyrese Maxey attempting 11 free throws.
Going punch-for-punch with OKC’s guard-big duo, Embiid and Maxey combined for 63 points on 44% shooting in their win.
Embiid had 35 points on 8-of-18 shooting, 11 rebounds, nine assists and four blocks. He also went a comical 19-of-21 from the free-throw line. Maxey had 28 points on 8-of-17 shooting and went 9-of-11 from the free-throw line.
The rest of the Sixers starting lineup scored double-digit points — Tobias Harris had 16 points, Nicolas Batum had 14 points and De’Anthony Melton had 14 points.
As mentioned earlier, the duo of Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren headlined OKC’s loss. Gilgeous-Alexander had 31 points on 10-of-21 shooting. Holmgren had 33 points on 13-of-21 shooting and six rebounds.
Outside of those two though, it was bare. The other three OKC starters combined for 15 points. The Thunder definitely felt Jalen Williams’ absence as he missed his third consecutive game with a hip strain.
Playing against one of the best teams in the league equipped with the MVP, the Thunder did a nice job at making it a competitive contest despite missing their third-best player.
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.