NBA Preview from The Sports Network
Saturday, November 24th
(All times eastern)
Oklahoma City Thunder (9-4) at Philadelphia 76ers (7-5), 7 p.m.
(Sports Network) - The Oklahoma City Thunder finish a quick, two-game road
trip east on Saturday night when they hit the Wells Fargo Center for a game
with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Thunder will try to get back into the win column after a 108-100 loss
Friday night in Boston to the Celtics. Oklahoma City trailed by 12, but a 9-0
run got them within three at 101-98.
Kevin Durant, who led the Thunder with 29 points, missed a game-tying 3-
pointer with 1:14 remaining.
Russell Westbrook had 26 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and Serge
Ibaka posted a double-double with 17 points and 13 boards.
"We played hard," Durant said. "In that fourth we had some tough breaks, tough
misses, but we fought. The best thing about this league is we have a game
tomorrow. We just have to move past it and get ready for tomorrow."
This is the fourth time this season Oklahoma City has played back-to-back
nights. The Thunder, the reigning Western Conference champion, are 3-0 in the
second game of the back-to-backs.
The Thunder, who start a three-game homestand after Saturday's game, are
second to the Miami Heat in scoring and have netted over 100 points in four
straight.
The Sixers have been off since Wednesday night when they lost to the Cavs,
92-83 in Cleveland. With Kyrie Irving out and Philly beating Cleveland on
Sunday, the Sixers surprisingly got trounced, highlighted by the Jeremy Pargo
show.
Filling in for the injured Irving, Pargo had a career-high 28 points. No Sixer
scored more than 16 and Philadelphia had a three-game winning streak snapped,
as well as a three-game road winning streak.
"I knew about him (Pargo). I watched him in college (at Gonzaga), he can
play," said Jrue Holiday, one of two Sixers with 16 on Wednesday. "Obviously,
he was going to come out with a lot of energy and he came out hitting a lot of
shots and he was really good."
The 76ers, who are without Andrew Bynum for the foreseeable future, are the
NBA's best defense in terms of opponents' scoring. Problem is, Philly ranks
third from the bottom in scoring.
The Sixers, who have won three straight in the City of Brotherly Love, have
cracked the century mark just twice, but have allowed over 100 points four
times. The last time a team scored 100-plus against Philadelphia was on Nov.
12 when the Milwaukee Bucks were able to do it.
The Thunder have won the last six meetings, including three in Philadelphia,
but the 76ers won the five matchups before that.
11/24 10:54:16 ET

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