The Philadelphia 76ers were looking to end an annoying road losing streak, but they weren’t able to do so as they dropped a tough one to the Oklahoma City Thunder in overtime 127-119.
Joel Embiid had 31 points and 12 rebounds, Josh Richardson had 28 points, and Tobias Harris busted out of a slump to score 23 points. The Sixers even shot 14-for-32 from deep, but it was not enough.
The free throw disparity is what initially stands out as Philadelphia shot only 22 attempts compared to 41 for Oklahoma City. Coach Brett Brown stated:
You can go right to the stat of free throw attempts, it’s where I first go. I thought the turnovers in the first half and the first quarter hurt us. I thought we could have had a greater margin going into the second quarter, but when I look at a stat
sheet and I feel the game, I feel that we fouled a lot. I think there has to be better awareness on bonus stuff. I think there
needs to be better discipline of not taking swipes at things when you’ve got to show your hands. I thought there were
some hard luck fouls that might be questionable. But at the end of the day when you look at this, I think it points to free
throws.
Harris and Ben Simmons fouled out quickly in overtime and with those two offensive weapons out, the Sixers weren’t able to generate much at the end when it was needed most. Harris stated after the loss:
Lot of whistles. They called it how they wanted to call it. They got to the free throw line, they were able to get a bunch of
free throws and were able to get there, stop the clock, and create that momentum. Sometimes the game is called that way
and that’s how it was.
The Sixers next game is on Sunday in Cleveland to finish up a quick 3-game road trip. They will need to beat the Cavaliers in order to avoid a completely winless trip before they return home on Wednesday. [lawrence-related id=19347,19339,19331]