Wednesday night the Sixers traveled to Minnesota with a 0-17 record on the brink of tying an NBA record for most consecutive losses to begin a season. Despite their early season blunders, the struggle has been quite real in Minnesota, as their fans have seen a team that was on the rise just a few years ago fail to produce wins and progress. With Minnesota being 4-12, the Sixers felt like this could be the night the losing streak could come to an abrupt end.
And it did! The Sixers played marvelous defense all night, holding the T’Wolves to only 77 points, and offensively MCW almost recorded another triple-double. Over the past three games he has been averaging a triple-double and showing signs of improvement. Still can’t nail a three-point shot to save his life but seeing improvements in his game gives me a good feeling. The win was obviously a huge stepping stone for the Sixers that the team has been eager to overcome, and now with a win under their belt they can stop pressing so hard and just play basketball.
As for tonight’s game, the Sixers return home to face a team also struggling mightily this season as the Oklahoma City Thunder come into town. The Sixers will look to build on their first victory and hope they can contain Kevin Durant who will be playing in his second game since returning from his fractured right foot injury that sidelined him for 17 consecutive games. In his first appearance back in the lineup on Tuesday night in New Orleans, against the Pelicans, Durant shot 50 percent from the floor going 9/18 and finished with a total of 27 points. It was a good sign for the Thunder to see Durant come back and provide the team with that sudden burst of energy and production. The Thunder have been battling injuries throughout the season and this high-powered Western Conference team has been unable to get off to the start they were hoping for, but a win in Philadelphia would make it three out of the last four for OKC and with Durant now healthy again, all signs should be pointing up for this team.
Game Notes:
- In the Sixers last 10 meetings with Oklahoma City they’ve lost by an average of 13.5 points.
- The Sixers can become the first team to lose their first 11 home games since Orlando in 2003-04.
- MCW has struggled versus the Thunder by only averaging 11 points in his two meetings with them.
- Durant is averaging 31.6 points on 51.1 percent shooting in games versus the Sixers.
- Look to see if the Sixers contain Westbrook and Durant better tonight because both are coming off injuries.
Injuries:
Oklahoma City: Perry Jones (Knee) practiced in full this week and could play against the Sixers. Mitch McGary (foot) was sent down to the D-League.
Sixers: Alexey Shved (hip) is day to day. Joel Embiid (foot) and Jason Richardson (knee/foot) are out indefinitely.
Projected Lineups:
Oklahoma City:
PG- Russell Westbrook
SG- Andre Robertson
SF- Kevin Durant
PF- Serge Ibaka
C- Steven Adams
Sixers:
PG- Michael Carter-Williams
SG- Hollis Thompson
SG- Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
PF- Henry Sims
C- Nerlens Noel
Prediction: The Sixers will keep this one close and feed off their last victory, but the Thunder will prevail late because Westbrook and Durant will be too strong. 107-96 Oklahoma City.
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