Multiple Sixers talk about the importance of Thunder’s young players in loss at home
PHILADELPHIA–On paper, the Philadelphia 76ers are the much better team compared to their opponent on Thursday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Sixers feature the likes Joel Embiid and James Harden. TyreseMaxey and other players are on the Thunder’s side.
This is the NBA. Any team can be beaten on any night and that’s what happened on Thursday as the Thunder marched into the Wells Fargo Center and knocked off the Sixers 133-114. Shai Gilgeous Alexander had 37 points in Oklahoma City. The team shot 51.2% from floor to score on the road.
Josh Giddey scored 20 points, eight assists and had four rebounds to help the Thunder bring the Sixers back to their feet after Philadelphia defeated the Detroit Pistons in two games.
Doc Rivers sent a warning
“We got beat,” said Rivers. “Shai beat our best defenders over and over again…we told them. We tried to tell them. This team is hard working, they move the ball. It’s not the same team that you just played. This team has players. This team has players. Not just Shai, Giddey, and all of them. They play right and if you’re not prepared to play this team, you’ll lose to them. I didn’t think we were ready tonight.”
Respecting their opponent
“I think sometimes you play down to your opponent,” added Matisse Thybulle. “It’s the hardest thing mentally as a basketball player. I’ve had coaches preach about it since I was a little kid, but sometimes it happens, and then we’ve managed to find it a little bit too late and we’d already dug ourselves too deep a hole.”
Gives the young Thunder faith
“You give a team like that confidence early,” added James Harden. “They just rode that wave the entire game.”
Getting into foul trouble
“I got in foul trouble,” said Joel Embiid. “I barely played like 30 seconds in the second quarter. They won the big league at halftime and we kept on chasing. It’s hard when it’s that way so I guess I just gotta stop fouling, but on the other end, it’s still about defense. If you can’t guard your own man, it’s all of us, if we can’t guard our own man, we’re not going to be good defensively. No matter how tight we are with our schemes and executing whatever we have to do with a game plan, you’re just not going to work out.”