By: Kylan Watson

After falling to the Orlando Magic on Sunday night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Oklahoma City Thunder who are currently the best team in the Western Conference. Despite being extremely shorthanded the Sixers were able to give the Thunder a fight tonight. However, OKC used a late fourth quarter explosion to beat Philly 118-102.

The Sixers were missing Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, and five other players in tonight’s contest. So, they had to use a starting five anchored by Kelly Oubre Jr. throughout the first quarter, their inexperience with each other showed and the Thunder took full advantage and made Philly pay for every mistake. Before the Sixers could even settle into the game they were down by double digits.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points in tonight’s contest and throughout the first half he made every shot he took in the first half. The Sixers just did not have enough lengthy defenders to deal with him. When he was not putting points on the board, he created high percentage shooting opportunities for his teammates which they then cashed in on. They scored 20 plus points from the Sixers 21 turnovers and were threatening to blow Philly off their home floor.

However, when the Sixers needed it, most Justin Edwards stepped up throughout this contest and helped his undermanned squad fight back in this contest. He scored 25 points in this contest (A new career high). One benefit of the Sixers being snake bitten by injuries is that Edwards has gotten an opportunity to show his skillset. Edwards has an impact player in every game that he has played in this season, and if he continues to play like he did tonight. Philly should convert his contract to a standard one because they need more scorers with energy on the roster. Edwards, scoring and length as a defender kept the Sixers in a game that they really had no business being in.

Late in the third quarter the Sixers were able to battle back and erase a 17-point OKC lead to six points in this game. That forced the Thunder to re-insert their starters into the game and the Sixers just ran out of gas late in the contest. The Thunder used a late fourth quarter explosion led by Gilgeous-Alexander and Jaylin Williams to end any hopes Philly had of a comeback victory.

Philly will now prepare to face the New York Knicks tomorrow night. They will hopefully get a few players back for this contest because they will need every available body to deal with the Knicks. While they have been struggling over their last few games, they are a team that always gives the Sixers trouble whenever they face each other.

The Sixers will need to limit their turnovers, win the rebounding battle, and make sure the Knicks are talking well contested shots on every shot attempt. They cannot afford to give New York easy opportunities to put points on the board like they did against the Thunder tonight. The Knicks are not a half court team so forcing them to operate in the half court should give the Sixers a chance to keep this game competitive.

Implementing these things into their game plan for tomorrow’s night game should put the Sixers in great position to win their 17^th game of the season.