RECAP: Oklahoma City Thunder 119, Philadelphia 76ers 117
After a long — and somewhat irritating — three-overtime battle, the Philadelphia 76ers dropped back to .500 with a narrow loss to Russell Westbrook and OKC.
ESPN’s All Access Philadelphia day ended with all the Philadelphia 76ers basketball you could ask for. For the first time this season, an NBA game went to double-overtime. Then, it went to triple-overtime.
The Sixers didn’t hold the lead until the first overtime period, trailing throughout regulation before making a big push down the stretch. Turnovers were their biggest issue in the second half, but like the game in Minnesota on Tuesday, they were able to hang around before tying it up late.
OKC didn’t score for over five minutes to end the game, while Philly went on an 11-0 run to make overtime happen. Then the game got ugly.
This was a good basketball game in terms of pure excitement level. You don’t see too many three-OT games, and this one was back-and-forth throughout the extra periods. Joel Embiid tried to take over the game late, while Russell Westbrook hit some big shots in the final period — shots that would eventually guide the Thunder to a win.
A-. 49 mins | 34 pts | 8 reb | 6 ast | 0 stl | 2 blk | 7 TO | 11-20 FG | 0-3 3PT| 12-13 FT | 3 PF | +6 | <strong>Summary</strong>: Embiid had some costly turnovers and ill-advised shot attempts, but was asked to do just about everything down the stretch. 49 minutes blows away his previous career-high of 39 (set on Tuesday), while just about every offensive possession went through him down the stretch. He also had a pair of big — and timely — blocks on Russell Westbrook, albeit the game eventually went in OKC’s favor.. C. Philadelphia 76ers. JOEL EMBIID
C+. 51 mins | 19 pts | 3 reb | 6 ast | 0 stl | 0 blk | 0 TO | 7-18 FG | 4-13 3PT| 1-1 FT | 2 PF | -3 | <strong>Summary</strong>: Redick was scorching in the first half, challenging Melo’s hot start on the other side with 15 points in the first two quarters. It was all downhill after that, with only four points combined between the second half and three overtime periods. His shooting dropped off a cliff, and that’s the kind of inconsistency that has plagued J.J. a lot this season. His role in the first half keeps his grade respectable, though.. SG. Philadelphia 76ers. J.J. REDICK
52 mins | 12 pts | 9 reb | 11 ast | 4 stl | 0 blk | 3 TO | 6-10 FG | 0-0 3PT| 0-2 FT | 5 PF | -3 | <strong>Summary</strong>: Simmons needs to be more aggressive. It’s as simple as that. I’m not sure if he’s scared of the free throw line or what, but he isn’t getting to the rim and looking for his own offense as much as he was earlier in the year. We talked at length during the offseason about him finding the right balance between scoring and passing, and that’s something he needs to do once again. He did, however, make some nice plays throughout the night, pushing the pace in transition and finding Embiid on a couple of nice entry passes — with some timely buckets mixed in. Four steals is a plus.. PG. Philadelphia 76ers. BEN SIMMONS. B-
D+. 49 mins | 11 pts | 10 reb | 2 ast | 3 stl | 2 blk | 2 TO | 4-21 FG | 3-15 3PT| 0-0 FT | 3 PF | +5 | <strong>Summary</strong>: Covington’s streaky shooting continued tonight, as he simply couldn’t get anything to go his way. He had a couple of big shots that fell at the right moments, but it was a grind that yielded a number of ugly misses along the way. His defensive effort keeps his grade from<strong> F</strong> status, but this Sixers team needs a lot more stability from Redick and Cov moving forward. Maybe his back was bothering him?. SF. Philadelphia 76ers. ROBERT COVINGTON
C+. 49 mins | 16 pts | 8 reb | 4 ast | 2 stl | 0 blk | 2 TO | 7-16 FG | 2-9 3PT| 0-0 FT | 2 PF | -4 | <strong>Summary</strong>: Saric’s shots weren’t falling tonight, but he did put together a nice effort defensively. He’ll never be a plus defender, but his hustle and aggressiveness when matched up with Melo was more than enough to earn him some extra points here. If there’s one thing Dario does consistently, it’s hustle.. PF. Philadelphia 76ers. DARIO SARIC
One issue prevailed during overtime, though: The officiating. There were questionable calls and no-calls that affected both teams, and many of them could have led to a different outcome.
Andre Roberson got hacked on a missed layup towards the end of second-overtime, while the Sixers were unable to advance the ball with 1.2 seconds left despite the timeout being called before Dario Saric started his dribble up court. There was also an earlier issue when Steven Adams pushed Embiid into Robert Covington during a (3-point) shot, but the foul was inexplicably called on the floor.
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Fouls and whatnot aside, the Sixers made some costly mistakes late before an impressive defensive possession from OKC stopped them on the final play. The Sixers had enough time to draw up a play down two, but opted to go for a 3-pointer and the win — leading to Patrick Patterson getting his hand on Redick’s shot.
The majority of regulation was highlighted by Carmelo Anthony‘s strong shooting night and Westbrook’s struggles, while the Sixers dealt with serious inconsistency of their own. Covington was off all night, resulting in a grim 4-21 tally from the field.
Joel Embiid also dealt with some clear back pain, which seemed to flare up after a couple of hard falls in the third quarter — with Steven Adams’ physicality playing a role.
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Now at 14-14, the Sixers will look to bounce back Monday in Chicago against a moderately hot Chicago Bulls team.