3 observations after severely undermanned Sixers fall to Thunder – NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers couldn’t overcome a gigantic difference in personnel Tuesday night against the Western Conference-leading Thunder.

They fell to a 118-102 loss at the Wells Fargo Center and dropped to 15-23 with their third straight loss. Oklahoma City improved to 33-6.

Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexader posted 32 points and nine assists.

Sixers rookie Justin Edwards scored 25 points. Jeff Dowtin Jr. had a career-high 18 points and Guerschon Yabusele recorded 17.

The Sixers host the Knicks on Wednesday. For the opening game of their back-to-back, they were severely shorthanded. The following players all missed the OKC game:

• Tyrese Maxey (left hand sprain)
• Joel Embiid (sprained left foot)
• Paul George (right ankle soreness)
• Caleb Martin (right groin soreness)
• KJ Martin (stress reaction on left foot)
• Andre Drummond (left toe sprain)
• Kyle Lowry (right hip sprain)
• Jared McCain (left lateral meniscus surgery)

What was Sixers head coach Nick Nurse’s reaction when he heard the final summation of everyone out?

“My reaction (was) the same as it has been most of the year,” he said. “You take a little gut punch and then you regroup and figure out the starting lineups, figure out the rotations, figure out what needs to change on the game plan as quickly as possible. And go play.”

Nurse again said prior to the game that Embiid is “day to day.”

Drummond is also everyday. He and KJ Martin recently resumed on-field practice, according to a team official.

Here are observations from the Sixers’ extremely undermanned loss Tuesday:

An early OKC blitz

Ricky Council IV made his first career start and Reggie Jackson made his first start as a Sixer.

Council converted an and-one layup to cut the Thunder’s lead to 10-9. From there, the Sixers’ deficit grew, and the talent disparity between the teams was glaring.

The Sixers allowed a 22-2 run. Gilgeous-Alexander seemed to slide wherever he wanted to go. He cut free along the baseline for a layup, cut through the Sixers’ defense for an easy inside hoop and finished the first quarter with 14 points and three assists. He started 10 for 10 from the floor and didn’t miss a field goal until the 8:01 mark of the third quarter.

On the other end, the Sixers saw why OKC has The NBA’s best defensive rating by a wide margin. The Sixers rarely created separation on their drives. When they got in and around the paint, they struggled to force shots off against the Thunder’s considerable collective length, athleticism and anticipation.

Two-way and rookies from the bench

The Sixers had four bench players available Tuesday and used them all.

Their second unit consisted of the team’s two-way contract players — Dowtin, Edwards and Pete Nance — and rookie center Adem Bona. Nance received his first run in the Sixers’ rotation, playing at both power forward and center. He recorded 18 scoreless minutes.

More aggressive than usual offensively, Edwards produced right away, scoring nine points on 4-for-5 shooting in his first eight minutes. The Sixers cut OKC’s lead to nine points in the second quarter on an Eric Gordon three and eventually had some defensive success. Of course, guarding OKC is a less challenging task when Gilgeous-Alexander is on the bench.

“After the first timeout, we came together,” Edwards said, “and were like, ‘We’ve got to fight. We really have nothing to lose.’ We just went out there and played together, played hard.”

Kelly Oubre Jr. was the Sixers’ primary defender on Gilgeous-Alexander and served as the team’s leading ballhandler at times. He had a rough first half offensively, missing all seven of his field goals.

On the Sixers’ final possession of the second quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander picked off an Edwards baseline pass out of bounds. He turned the Sixers’ 13th turnover into a dunk just before halftime, sending OKC into the locker room with a 58-43 advantage.

Nothing great in the cards

The nurse called timeout just 95 seconds into the second half after a Gilgeous-Alexander layup. He investigated Gordon and inducted Edwards.

Dowtin and Edwards’ shot making kept OKC from blowing the game wide open in the third quarter. Dowtin has certainly shown that he can score G League level with the Delaware Blue Coats. Edwards topped 17 points just once in his only college season at Kentucky. Kudos to him for taking advantage of his opportunity vs. Thunder.

“I think he’s really on the mend,” the nurse said of Edwards. – He makes a really good effort in the defensive end. He is capable of guarding many positions defensively. He has a good feel offensively.

– The ball finds him because he moves to the right place at the right time. I thought he took a good number of threes that were there. I thought he was driving when he was supposed to. I thought he got away with it when he had to, for the most part. So a really good bright spot there.”

Yabusele hit the spotlight late in the third quarter during a particularly high-energy stretch. He scored nine points in the final minute and four seconds of the third, ending the period with a buzzer-beating put-back layup.

The Sixers kept the surprise comeback train rolling early in the fourth quarter. Long jumpers from Edwards and Gordon trimmed OKC’s lead to 91-87.

In the end, the Sixers’ chances of overtaking the Thunder were very slim.

Even with Edwards and Dowtin’s scoring and OKC’s second-half lapse in focus, the Sixers didn’t have the defensive resources to cause a blitz. As has been the case on many Embiid-less nights this season, the Sixers were light on rim protection and unable to pull off anything shocking against a much healthier, better opponent.