Rising OKC Thunder and sliding Philadelphia 76ers to collide in Oklahoma City
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Oklahoma City Thunder centre Chet Holmgren takes a shot against Milwaukee Bucks centre Jericho Sims in the second quarter at Fiserv Forum.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City Thunder have all but shifted their attention towards the National Basketball Association (NBA) post-season.
The Philadelphia 76ers, meanwhile, are already staring at next season and beyond.
On March 19 (March 20, Singapore time), their gazes will meet just long enough to play a game in Oklahoma City.
The Thunder hold a 12.5-game lead in the Western Conference over Houston and Denver with 14 games remaining.
If they beat the Sixers while the Rockets and Nuggets lose their road games, then Mark Daigneault’s squad will clinch the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed for the second straight season.
Oklahoma City (56-12) have won three consecutive games and 10 of their last 11. Daigneault has kept a deep rotation as the season has worn on – and consistently changed things.
He said he has not necessarily been holding back for the play-offs.
“You can have the same effect by doing a lot of things and being unpredictable,” Daigneault said.
“You can save something and it’s unpredictable because no one’s ever seen it before, or you can do so many things that you become unpredictable.”
Oklahoma City’s success has led to plenty of award talk.
Though Daigneault has shied away from lobbying for Most Valuable Player votes on behalf of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s scoring leader at 33.0 points per game, he has not been passive about Luguentz Dort’s candidacy for Defensive Player of the Year.
“I think his time has come for that,” Daigneault said. “I think he’ll get that recognition this year... We have the best defence in the league statistically and he’s anchored that the entire season.”
Oklahoma City’s 106.2 defensive rating – the number of points allowed per 100 possessions – ranks as the best in the league by a significant margin over the Los Angeles Clippers and Orlando Magic.
On the flip side, the Sixers enter the game ranked among the bottom 10 in the league in offensive rating at 111.6 points scored per 100 possessions.
Of course, that number has been skewed by all of Philadelphia’s injuries. The game will be the Sixers’ second since they announced Paul George would be shut down for the season.
It was the latest blow for a team who have struggled to keep their stars – including Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and George – healthy.
“It just seemed like every time we built any momentum, we’d lost multiple players,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said.
“I always said that – like Joel obviously is the focal point of our team on both ends of the floor. That was always hard enough. But what really made it hard was the sheer numbers. Five (or) six guys-plus out many, many games.
“So obviously disappointing... hopefully, everybody can get healthy as soon as possible and get back and have good summertime prep and all that kind of stuff.”
The clash is the second of two meetings between the teams this season. Oklahoma City won the first, 118-102, in Philadelphia on Jan 14 when Embiid, George and Maxey did not play. REUTERS
