76ers Dominated By Short-Handed Thunder 133-100

The 76ers picked up a key loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night, losing 133-100 increasing the odds that Philadelphia remains in the top six and doesn’t have to send their first-round pick to the Thunder. The Thunder hit 24 three-pointers in their blowout win over the 76ers.

It was a revenge game for former 76er Isaiah Joe who finished with 21 points, shooting five threes and adding five assists. Aaron Wiggins could not miss as well scoring 26 points on four threes while adding six assists and four rebounds. It was also a career night for Jaylin Williams who finished with a triple-double, totaling a career-high with 19 points and 17 rebounds, while also adding 11 assists.

For the 76ers it was Quentin Grimes once again leading the charge totaling 28 points, five assists, and three steals. Justin Edwards shot well on the night finishing with 19 points, while Chuma Okeke added 14 points and 15 rebounds off the bench.

Right away the Thunder came ready to go. After winning the tip, Joe drilled his first three of the night and was followed up with a tough layup from Chet Holmgren. Another missed shot from the 76ers resulted in Joe drilling a 15-footer, and he followed that up by finding Jaylin Williams wide-open for three to make it 10-0 Thunder after not even two minutes of action.

After a Nick Nurse timeout, Edwards finally got the 76ers on the board with an emphatic dunk on Holmgren, but Jaylin Williams answered with a dunk of his own on the other end. The shots continued to fall for OKC with Holmgren drilling a long triple, hitting a pair of free throws, and knocking down a 15-footer for seven straight Thunder points.

Quentin Grimes finally got on the board with a tip-in shot, and Okeke knocked down the 76ers’ first three of the night. Aaron Wiggins and Grimes traded layups, and Willimas banked in a jumper. However, Guerschon Yabusele drilled a long three for his first points of the game.

Grimes picked up where he left off the other night, scoring five straight for the 76ers; however, the Thunder continued to shoot the lights out in the quarter, and Branden Carlson and Dillon Jones hit back-to-back threes.

The threes party continued this time for the 76ers with Okeke hitting back-to-back threes of his own, but, Carlson knocked down another triple, and Kenrich Williams added one as well. With the quarter’s final seconds ticking down, Carlson slammed an alley-oop to make it 42-26 Thunder after 12 minutes.

In the second quarter, Jared Butler and Wiggins knocked down early buckets for both teams. The Thunder continued to extend their lead with Wiggins hitting a pair of jumpers and Kenrich Williams hitting another three.

Down 21, the 76ers finally went on a nice run of their own to cut that deficit in half. It started with five points from Alex Reese, five more from Edwards, and was capped up with a driving layup from Yabusele to make it a nine-point game and force a timeout from the Thunder.

Out of the timeout, Jalen Hood-Schifino and Yabusele knocked down threes but were answered right away by a triple from Alex Ducas. Williams and Grimes traded mid-range buckets and Joe continued his revenge game with five straight points for OKC.

With under two minutes until the half, Grimes knocked down a long three, but the Thunder answered back with a pair of free throws from Holmgren and an even longer three from Wiggins. Grimes got two points back with free throws of his own, however, just before the final buzzer of the half went off, Holmgren drilled another Thunder three to make it 70-56 OKC at the half.

Out of the half. Yabusele knocked down a long three and Edwards hit a 15-footer. Leading by just 11 points, the Thunder quickly doubled that lead thanks to an 11-0 run that was started by a Holmgren dunk. Joe kept it going with another three and Wiggins hit an and-one layup and free throw, while Jaylin Williams hit a 15-footer.

After four minutes without points, the 76ers finally hit a shot with Edwards drilling a corner three. Despite ending that run from the Thunder, OKC continued to score with Jaylin Williams hitting a pair of free throws and a three, Joe drilling another three, and Kenrich Williams and Dillon Jones hitting tough layups to go up 28.

With just over two minutes left in the third, Reese and Okeke hit back-to-back threes but were quickly answered with back-to-back threes from Kenrich Williams and Wiggins. Holmgren knocked down a mid-range bucket just before the quarter ended to make it 103-74 Thunder heading into the fourth.

In the fourth quarter, the Thunder continued to dominate from three, with Wiggins hitting two triples and Jaylin Williams hitting one of his own. Hood-Schifino hit a layup and Reese knocked down a three of his own, however, Wiggins continued his impressive night with a slam dunk.

The threes kept falling with Adam Flagler hitting a three for the Thunder, but Butler quickly answered back for the 76ers. However, a minute later, Joe knocked down his fifth three of the evening to make it a 38-point lead for OKC.

After the three from Joe, the Thunder emptied their bench with just over six minutes to go. The 76er took advantage of this by having Butler hit a mid-range bucket, Edwards nailing a three, and Grimes scoring 10 points thanks to a pair of threes and steals.

However, the quarter continued to tick down and the Thunder’s bench began running out the clock. Carlson scored five straight points and Edwards hit another bucket, however, Oklahoma City held on to win 133-100.

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