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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Clemente Almanza

Player grades: Thunder surprise Sixers in shocking 133-114 road win

Thunder Sixers Jalen Williams Jaylin Williams J Williams Josh Giddey Shai GilgeousAlexander Bally Sports Oklahoma Joel Embiid Eric Hartline

If only this game was on national TV.

In their most impressive road win of the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder blew out the Philadelphia 76ers, 133-114.

To provide context, the Sixers were 13-3 in their last 16 games and had the third-best net rating at 8.8 during that stretch. In their last game, the Sixers scored 147 points in a blowout win against the Detroit Pistons. For the season, the Sixers ranked third in defensive rating at 110.2. Heading into this game, the Sixers had a clean bill of health, not listing any injuries on their injury report.

And for the Thunder to dominate in the fashion they did on Thursday? Wow.

The win sent a message to the rest of the league that the Thunder are no longer to be taken lightly as they are now one game back from the 10th seed.

This should’ve been a Sixers win. Instead, the Thunder continue to pull surprises out of their hats. They enjoyed an offensive explosion one game after struggling to score.

Despite continuing to be without their entire frontcourt, the Thunder outscored the Sixers inside the paint, 52-44. The Thunder also enjoyed a hot shooting game, going 14-of-32 (43.8%) from 3. The Thunder also had a busy night from the charity stripe. They shot 31-of-33 (93.9%) from the free-throw line. A significant improvement from their last game.

Despite the lopsided affair, this game did have its intriguing moments.

Due to a 13-0 Sixers’ blitzing run to start the third quarter, the Thunder’s lead evaporated, and it felt like momentum was shifting toward the home team.

After those opening three minutes, the Thunder recollected their composure and finished the last nine minutes of the third quarter on a strong note.

The Thunder, who have the best third-quarter net rating in the league at 13.9, outscored the Sixers, 32-9, to finish the third quarter.

Most young team would’ve fold under those circumstances. But the Thunder continue to show they have nerves made out of the same material used to craft the Liberty Bell.

For the Sixers, Joel Embiid and James Harden headlined the loss. Embiid finished with 30 points and 10 rebounds. Harden finished 24 points and 15 assists.

The Thunder also went toe-to-toe against the Sixers in the fourth quarter and won the quarter by three points. They did an excellent job stomping out any hopes of a Sixers comeback win.

Alas, the Thunder will get to enjoy this win for less than a day. They play the second night of a road back-to-back against the Chicago Bulls on Friday, Jan. 13.

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus

Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

If only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had this performance on TNT to improve his All-Star voting.

Gilgeous-Alexander was fantastic against the Sixers. He finished with 37 points on efficient 10-of-16 shooting and went 16-of-16 from the free-throw line.

A slow start did not hurt Gilgeous-Alexander this time. He scored 13 points in the first quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander killed any hopes of a Sixers comeback in the fourth quarter by scoring 10 points, including eight from the free-throw line.

After scoring a season-low 14 points in his last meeting against the Sixers on New Year’s Eve, Gilgeous-Alexander cracked the code this time by spamming drives to the basket and getting to the free-throw line at a frequent level.

An impressive feat considering Joel Embiid was on the other side of most drives.

Josh Giddey: B-plus

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The shot didn’t necessarily fall for Josh Giddey to start the game, as he had nine points on 3-of-8 shooting in the first three quarters.

Giddey struggled to muscle his way into the rim and settled for a lot of floaters and jumpers. Just like most of the league, Giddey wasn’t able to work his way around Embiid.

Inside the paint, Giddey shot 5-of-9 for 10 points.

But a strong fourth quarter helped turn Giddey’s scoring game around as he scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting in 11 minutes. Giddey, along with Gilgeous-Alexander, were the catalyst to the Thunder closing this win out.

Giddey finished with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting and went 5-of-5 from the free-throw line to go along with eight assists and four rebounds.

Jalen Williams: B

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault didn’t want to commit to Jalen Williams being a permanent starter, but if he continues to play like he did against the Sixers, it’s hard to see that not happening.

In fact, I kind of believe it’s already happened. Williams has started the last 16 games for the Thunder and 18 of the last 19 games.

During that stretch, Williams is averaging 12.6 points on 49.7 percent shooting, 4.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists.

Against the Sixers, Williams finished with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and went 2-of-3 from 3. Williams also had five rebounds and four assists.

Like most nights, Williams did most of his scoring near the rim. He scored eight points on 4-of-6 shooting inside the paint.

Jaylin Williams: B-minus

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

After not playing for eight days, Jaylin Williams was given the starting nod at center.

Williams turned in his best performance of the season. He finished with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, five rebounds and two assists.

Those numbers included the most impressive made shot of the season for Williams. He drove from the baseline and banked in a reverse layup.

The only negative for Williams is being foul prone. In 18 minutes, Williams picked up five fouls. Considering he played against Embiid and Harden, two of the best foul drawers in the league, it’s hard to assign a ton of blame on Williams.

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