The Philadelphia Sixers stop the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA

The good run of the Oklahoma City Thunder, second in the Western Conference, ended Saturday in the NBA regular season. After six consecutive victories, the Oklahoma franchise was in fact beaten at home by the Philadelphia Sixers (127-123), who were ranked fourth in the East and had lost their last two matches (against Cleveland and Minnesota).

Philadelphia benefits from many free throws

“OKC” narrowly gave in, after making a comeback in the last quarter. At the start of this one, the Thunder was trailing by 13 points (93-80). And, with only 49 seconds left to play, the 76ers still had a good margin (119-110). But, thanks in particular to its star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren, its “rookie” player, Oklahoma City came back to 121-118, 11 seconds from the buzzer.

Philadelphia finally escaped on a series of free throws from Joel Embiid. The Sixers pivot shone in this exercise with 19 converted attempts out of 21 attempted, for a total of 35 points (8/18 shooting including 0/4 three-pointers). The Pennsylvania franchise benefited from numerous free throws (37/45), much more than its opponent (only 21/26).

Batum participated in the victory

Embiid came close to scoring the 76ers’ first triple-double this season, with 11 rebounds and nine assists. Tyrese Maxey (28 pts) contributed to his team’s success and Nicolas Batum also showed up with 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

For the Thunder, Holmgren and Gilgeous-Alexander were impressive (33 and 31 points respectively). Ousmane Dieng played eight minutes without scoring a point and Olivier Sarr remained on the sidelines. Australian Josh Giddey, who is currently the subject of an NBA investigation into a possible relationship with an underage girl, played (10 points, seven rebounds, eight assists).

After their victory, the Philadelphia Sixers remain fourth in the Eastern Conference, but now with the same record as Orlando and Milwaukee. Oklahoma City is still second in the West.