NBA Hoops

Thunder surprises Sixers in shocking 133-114 road win

Thunder surprises Sixers in shocking 133-114 road win

If only this game was on national TV.

In their most impressive road win of the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder were able to blowout the Philadelphia 76ers, 133-114.

To provide context, the Sixers were 13-3 in their last 16 games and had the third-best net rating at 8.8 during that stretch. In their last game, the Sixers scored 147 points in regulation in a blowout win against the Detroit Pistons, On the entire season, the Sixers ranked third in defensive rating at 110.2.

Heading into this game, the Sixers had a clean bill of health, not listing any injuries on their injury report.

This should’ve been a Sixers win. Instead, the Thunder continues to pull surprises out of their hat and had an offensive explosion a game after struggling to score.

Despite missing essentially their entire frontcourt, the Thunder were able to outscore the Sixers inside the paint, 52-44. The Thunder also enjoyed a hot shooting game as they went 14-of-32 (43.8%) from 3.

The Thunder also had a busy night from the charity stripe, as they shot 31-of-33 (93.9%) from the free-throw line. An increased improvement from their last game.

Following a quick 13-0 Sixers’ run to start the third quarter, the Thunder’s lead suddenly evaporated and it felt like momentum was heading towards the home team.

Instead, the Thunder — who have the best third-quarter net rating in the league at 13.9 — were able to outscore the Sixers 32-9 to finish the third quarter.

For the Sixers, Joel Embiid and James Harden headlined the loss. Embiid finished with 30 points and 10 rebounds. Harden finished 24 points and 15 assists.

The Thunder also went toe-to-toe against the Sixers in the fourth quarter and were able to win the quarter by three points. The did an excellent job at stomping out any hopes of a Sixers comeback win.

Alas, the Thunder will only get to enjoy this win for less than a day as the Thunder play the second night of a road back-to-back against the Chicago Bulls on Friday, Jan. 13.

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.

Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The shot didn’t necessarily fall for Josh Giddey to start the game, as he had nine points on 3-of-8 shooting in the first three quarters.

Giddey struggled to muscle his way into the rim and settled for a lot of floaters and jumpers. Just like most of the league, Giddey wasn’t able to work his way around Joel Embiid.

Inside the paint, Giddey shot 5-of-9 for 10 points.

But a strong fourth quarter…

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