Photo courtesy of Yahoo! Sports
A night after routing the Celtics without Kevin Durant, he came back against the Sixers (14-30) with reckless abandon tallying a triple-double. The Thunder (35-10) took care of the business, 103-91. Philadelphia kept things close through every quarter except for the second, which ended up being the difference maker.
It looked like the Sixers might have found a way to stay with the high-powered Thunder offense after trading shot to shot with them in the opening stanza. Evan Turner came out firing, scoring eight points while dishing out two assists and grabbing two boards. It was the hot opening quarter shooting of Serge Ibaka that kept OKC together. He scored 12 points and blocked three shots. By the end of the first, the Thunder were shooting at a much higher percentage. While OKC kept that going, the Sixers, who shot just over 40% in the first, did not have the same luck.
The two teams were locked at 26 after the first, then Kevin Durant, who scored seven in the first, started to catch fire. He hit five of his seven shots, giving him a total of 18 points at the half. The rest of the Thunder team shot equally as well, combining for a 52.6% shooting percentage in the second quarter. After scoring eight in the first, Evan Turner was nowhere to be found in the second. He went 0-for-2 from the field but managed to hit four free throws. Thaddueus Young found himself struggling early, shooting 30% in the first half. The Thunder defense suffocated the Sixers heading into halftime, holding them to an abysmal 24.1% from the field in the second. Through two, the Sixers were also only 2-for-15 from long range, continuing their downward spiral in terms of long-range offense.
Heading into the half, the Thunder had a commanding 53-44 lead, shooting 50% to the Sixers 31.4%. The Sixers came out of the half showing some life, but OKC was too hot to handle. With 18 points already through two, Kevin Durant kept his foot on the accelerator, hitting all four of his shots and free throws. Spencer Hawes did all he could to keep things within striking distance, hitting four out of five shots in the third. Even though the Sixers werew only outscored by three in the period, the Thunder posted a 63.2% shooting percentage in the third, compared to a solid 50% from Philadelphia. After three, the Sixers were still within striking distance, trailing 83-71. With 5:18 to play in the third quarter, the Sixers' cut the lead to four but they never got any closer after OKC closed out the quarter on a 14-6 run.
The second quarter proved to be the downfall for the Sixers, who drew even with the Thunder in the fourth quarter. They managed to hold Durant to just two points in ten minutes in the fourth. The Sixers starters could only manage to go 3-for-11 from the floor in the fourth and the bench could not pick up the slack, despite the return of Tony Wroten.
Kevin Durant stole the show like he normally does, scoring a triple-double (32pts, 14reb,10ast). Serge Ibaka also had a big night himself with a double-double (25pts, 11reb). The Thunder finished the game with a 52.6% shooting percentage. Durant and Ibaka shot a combined 72.2% from the floor. This marks the tenth straight game that Durant has scored over 30 points.
For the Sixers, James Anderson led the way with 19 points (7-16 FG) and five rebounds. Thad Young may not have had a pretty shooting percentage, but he managed to get a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards. Evan Turner pitched in with 15, eight of which were scored in the opening quarter. Michael Carter-Williams had a night he will want to forget, scoring just eight points on 13 shots from the floor. Long range shooting also plagued the Sixers again, hitting just four out of 27 shots. In his return from injury, Tony Wroten scored nine points off of the bench.
The Sixers have Sunday off before hosting the Suns on Monday night at 7PM. The Suns beat the Sixers, 115-101, Dec. 28 in Phoenix.
Prediction outcome: I predicted the Thuder would win 109-91. Not bad to only be off by six points.
Brandon Apter is a contributor to Sixerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @ApterShock
