OKC Thunder win triple OT thriller against the Philadelphia 76ers

Russell Westbrook was able to record his 10th triple-double of the season as the OKC Thunder won their 14th game of the season in a triple-OT thriller against the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Oklahoma City Thunder need wins. They were able to get a big-time win in Philadelphia on Friday night after they beat the Sixers in a triple-overtime thriller.

The game was won for the OKC Thunder after Andre Roberson made the game-winning layup when the noticeably tired Joel Embiid got caught sleeping.

It seemed like OKC gave up another game at the end but they were able to get the win. The Thunder were able to deal with Embiid also. He got into two verbal altercations with Carmelo Anthony and waved goodbye to Steven Adams when he fouled out in the third overtime period.

Russell Westbrook was able to get the last laugh when after the game was over, waving to Embiid in return.

Westbrook finished the game with 27 points, 18 rebounds and 15 assists. He also played a career-high 52 minutes. This is big news because the Thunder have a game on Saturday night against the New York Knicks.

Carmelo will want to be at full strength for that game because it is his first game back in New York. Anthony played 47 minutes, which is equivalent to almost a full NBA game.

The Thunder won the first two quarters but lost the last two. They wouldn’t win another period until the third overtime. The largest lead OKC had at one point was 13. The largest lead the Sixers had was five.

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With players like Anthony, George and Westbrook, you would think the team would not have to go three overtimes with a young, developing team like the Sixers, but these are the struggles that the Thunder have been having.

There is just not enough consistent offense to support a big lead as seen Friday night with a blown 13-point lead.

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Anthony, Westbrook and George combined for 75 points while the rest of the team just had 44. The Thunder will have to be more balance going into future games.

To do that, OKC will have to maximize every player’s offensive capability and not put them in foreign positions that don’t make sense for that player. That means Andre Roberson will have to be a slasher — not a 3-point shooter. Patrick Patterson will have to find holes around the 3-point line to get open opportunities, not put the ball on the floor to shoot the 3.

Jerami Grant will have to slash to the basket to get lob opportunities, not shoot 3s.

There were talks about what would happen if the Thunder were not able to right the ship. Paul George being traded was one of them. If George is traded, then that may mean the Thunder have given up for the season.

This win — combined with the win against the Indiana Pacers — will help calm the doubters for a little while, but the Thunder will have to get significantly above the .500 mark and will have to get long winning streaks to completely calm the noise.

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Doing both those things equate to finishing with a high seed and being a favorite to go far in the playoffs. They are getting back on the right track at 14-14, but January will be a big teller on where this team will ultimately go.