Oklahoma City beat the 76ers 127-119 in overtime Friday night. It was the Thunder’s first overtime game of the season and a solid win before heading out to the West Coast for a two-game set in Los Angeles against the Clippers and the Lakers.
Here are three takeaways from OKC’s win over Philadelphia:
Terrance Ferguson showed out
After missing Tuesday’s loss at Indiana due to personal reasons, Ferguson returned to the starting lineup against Philadelphia.
🚨 Close game alert 🚨
T-Ferg still hot.
👀 on @FOXSportsOK pic.twitter.com/kPUTNqg7B7— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 16, 2019
He scored a season-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, including hitting on five of his seven attempts from beyond the arc. Ferguson had only hit five three-pointers combined in the previous seven games.
After the game, he credited his daughter and Steven Adams for his success.
The Thunder’s third-quarter struggles continue
As noted by Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City’s “trend of falling behind” in the third quarter continued once again Friday night against the 76ers.
The Thunder took a 54-59 lead into the half, only to be outscored 34-26 in the third quarter.
Their struggles continued until the 7:20 mark of the 4th quarter when OKC trailed by nine points. From there, the Thunder closed the game on a 22-13 run to end regulation tied at 107.
Free throw shooting helped seal the victory
The Thunder aren’t known as automatic from the free-throw line. Far from it.
But when it mattered against Philadelphia, OKC knocked them down.
Oklahoma City was 8-for-8 in overtime from the line. Danilo Gallinari hit all four of his attempts, with both Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander making a pair each.
Both Gallinari (11-for-11) and Paul (12-for-12) were perfect on the night. Per the Thunder, it’s the first time in the organization’s history that two players were perfect from the free-throw line with more than ten attempts each.
Combined 23 for 23 from the free throw line. That's the first time in OKC history that 2 players were perfect from the FT line with 10+ attempts each. pic.twitter.com/DpKNWK3NDF
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 16, 2019
As a team, the Thunder shot 85.7% from the line, connecting on 35-of-41 free throws.