SGA, Thunder Hailed By NBA Fans for Win vs. 76ers with Paul George, Embiid, Maxey Out
Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRT
Featured Columnist IVJanuary 15, 2025
The Philadelphia 76ers were without Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond and Kyle Lowry for Tuesday night's matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder (and also rookie standout Jared McCain, who is out for the season with a lateral meniscus tear).
The team's starting lineup—consisting of Reggie Jackson, Eric Gordon, Kelly Oubre Jr, Ricky Council IV and Guerschon Yabusele—combined to average 38.6 points per game this season coming into the night. Council and Jackson were each making their first starts of the 2024-25 campaign. Pete Nance, signed to another two-way deal earlier on Tuesday, was making just his second appearance of the season.
So yes, the Thunder—currently the top team in the Western Conference by a comfortable margin—won easily on Tuesday, blowing out the depleted Sixers, 118-102.
And no, MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn't receive much resistance, finishing the contest with 32 points, nine assists and two steals. It was an incredibly efficient performance, as he shot 12-of-15 from the field.
So while those numbers came against what is essentially the Sixers' reserve unit, NBA fans were still impressed by the showing:
The Thunder (33-6) may have been favored even if the Sixers (15-23) were at full health, and Shai's performance has become something of the norm for the superstar guard.
In that regard, the biggest storyline from the game may have actually been the performance of Philly's Justin Edwards (25 points, six rebounds) and Jeff Dowtin Jr. (18 points, five rebounds), a pair of players who non-Philly fans definitely knew were in the NBA.
To put Edwards' performance into further perspective, the rookie came into the night with 31 total points in his career.
None of that is much consolation for the Sixers during yet another loss in what has been an extremely disappointing, injury-ravaged season. But it at least made an otherwise throwaway game against a superior opponent mildly entertaining, and that's something.
