In the middle of their toughest stretch of the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder aren’t about to panic.
The Thunder have dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season and have lost four of six since starting the season 24-1.
Oklahoma City will try to turn around its recent struggles beginning with Sunday’s home game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
“It’s easy to learn through the losses,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “You feel it right away. You hate the feeling. It’s motivating. I expect this team to get better. We should be a way better team come the end of the season than we are today, and that’s our goal.”
Three of those four losses — including the last two — have come at the hands of San Antonio.
Oklahoma City is 4-0 against Eastern Conference teams this campaign after going 29-1 last season.
For much of the early part of the season, the Thunder talked about pushing for improvement even though the results kept going their way.
Now that the results haven’t gone their way, the approach hasn’t changed.
“We have to get better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We have to look in the mirror, and that’s everybody from top to bottom, if we want to reach our ultimate goal.”
Philadelphia has also dropped back-to-back contests.
Both of those games have come with the 76ers’ star trio–Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey–in the lineup together.
The 76ers are 0-4 this season when all three players are available.
Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse isn’t concerned about the trend, saying the three need more time together in the court.
“I’d really like 10 or 15 or 20 straight games so we can start building some stuff and figuring out when to go where and get a little bit of rhythm and synergy,” Nurse said. “It’s just so choppy with when they play together as far as consecutive games, so it’s hard to build the rhythm. The chemistry and all that stuff kind of takes a little time.”
Embiid would be playing in his third consecutive game for just the second time this season.
The big man has averaged 29 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks since returning from missing back-to-back games.
“Hopefully he’ll keep going here on this road trip, and again, I think we need to keep making steps forward with him conditioning-wise, minutes-wise, rhythm-wise,” Nurse said.
Embiid figures to be challenged by Oklahoma City’s two-big lineup with Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein.
The teams are both in the top 10 in the league in limiting points off turnovers, with the Thunder second with opponents scoring 15.5 per game, while the 76ers limit teams to 17.3.
Oklahoma City leads the league with 24.6 points off turnovers per game.
The contest is the 76ers’ second in a five-game road trip that began with Friday’s 109-102 loss at Chicago.
For the Thunder, it’s the second contest in a four-game homestand.
–Field Level Media
