Could you have drawn up a more lopsided matchup? Not for this season. The Philadelphia 76ers and the Oklahoma City Thunder square off for a battle between a high-flying offense and the league’s worst defense.
Look no further than to Vegas to see how lopsided this matchup is. The point spread for tonight’s game opened at 20, and at press time has since moved to 21. The NBA record is 22.5, from 2008. Something tells me the Sixers will have chance to top it later.
The 76ers will go into a building in which the Thunder, who own the West’s top record, have won 25 of 31 games this season. The 76ers are one game away from their franchise’s second-worst losing streak of all-time—and still counting. The Thunder are also on a nine-game winning streak at Chesapeake Energy Arena against Philadelphia.
One area in which these teams actually are a bit closer in is the turnovers category. Philadelphia is the worst at taking care of the ball in the league, averaging over 17 a game. OKC, meanwhile, isn’t that far off. The Thunder average 15.3 turnovers a game. Since their wild, electrifying point guard Russell Westbrook returned, that number has jumped to over 16. Between the reckless Westbrook and the rookie Michael Carter-Williams, who committed eight turnovers alone on Sunday, this game could get ugly.
Aside from that, this is not a game to “X and O”, strategy-wise. Frankly, the Thunder are better at every position, one through twelve.
Notes: James Anderson, and Oklahoma State graduate, will be making a rare trip back home. He led the 76ers with 19 points the last time these teams squared off. The Thunder are 2-3 since Westbrook returned. The 76ers on Sunday snapped a streak of 13 straight games allowing 100 or more points. I’d expect a new streak to begin tonight. In what has become a league-while trend, Caron Butler was bought out by an East team to join a West powerhouse. Butler will debt for the Thunder tonight after being bought out by Milwaukee.
Injuries: Brandon Davies (finger) will not play, nor will Nerlens Noel and Jason Richardson, who recover from reconstructive knee surgery.
Philadelphia:
PG- Michael Carter-Williams
SG- Tony Wrotten
SF- Hollis Thompson
PF- Thaddeus Young
C- Henry Sims
Oklahoma:
PG- Russell Westbrook
SG- Perry Jones
SF- Kevin Durant
PF- Serge Ibaka
C- Steve Adams
Prediction: The Thunder blow the 76ers out the building for a 10th straight time there. 126-104 Thunder.
