Oklahoma City Thunder deliver another classic against Philadelphia 76ers
The Oklahoma City Thunder and Philadelphia 76ers have played some classic games in recent years. Friday night was the latest installment in the series.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are not expected to be much this year. The Philadelphia 76ers were picked by some experts to go to the Finals and win it all. That was the epilogue Friday as the Thunder prepared to host the 76ers for the first of two meetings between the teams this season.
These two teams just seem to know each other. It seems like when these two teams get together it is always an instant classic. Friday showed that even with the Thunder lacking in talent they still had what it took to beat the Sixers.
In the early stages of the rivalry, it was the feud between Russell Westbrook and Joel Embiid that fueled the storylines between the teams.
On Dec.15, 2017, the Thunder and Sixers faced off and started the rivalry at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. It was a triple-overtime game that saw both teams getting into several small altercations and trading baskets late in the game.
The animosity between the two teams was clear when Westbrook told Embiid to go home after the Thunder won the game.
On Jan. 28, 2018, it was early in the first quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena and Embiid had the ball at the top of the 3-point line. He was able to drive down the lane and dunk on Russell Westbrook.
Embiid had a little something to say after the dunk and he got his revenge. The rivalry didn’t stop there as on Jan. 19 of this year, the two teams met yet again. This time after a steal from Jimmy Butler that seemed to win the game for the Sixers, Paul George converted a four-point play that gave the Thunder the win.
Late in the fourth quarter of that game, Westbrook was driving down the lane for a layup and, while he was just about to take off, Embiid jumped and landed on top of him. Westbrook felt there was something extra to the hard foul and said he and Embiid aren’t cool.
That takes us to Friday’s Thunder-Sixers game that went into overtime after the two teams traded baskets in the fourth. The Thunder were able to pull away in overtime, but there wasn’t any animosity between the two teams.
While these two teams gave us another overtime classic, with Westbrook gone the rivalry that once between these two teams seems to be gone. For two teams that see each other only two times a year, they seem to be able to always be close in stature.
Both these teams are young and have a lot of talent and they seem to match up well with each other.
more thunder. Gallinari brings Thunder out of 3-point shooting basement. light
More from Hoops Habit
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
- NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers
At point guard, there is Ben Simmons for the Sixers and at point for the Thunder, there is Chris Paul. Former LA Clippers teammates square off at forward as the Sixers have Tobias Harris and the Thunder have Danilo Gallinari — who dropped 28 points. At center the Thunder have Steven Adams, with Embiid for Philly.
Every starter that played in this game except Adams went for double figures in scoring.
OKC has a lot of athletic players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (24 points) and Terrance Ferguson (19 points) that can hit 3s and find open holes in the defense. That made the difference in the game this time around, but the Sixers have a talented group as well.
Next. Each franchise's best duo. dark
It will be interesting to see how this matchup plays out the next couple of times these two teams play each other. It should be good.