Sunday night was a record-setting performance for the Philadelphia 76ers (40-35). In their 135-120 win at Toronto, the Sixers connected on a franchise-record 24 threes. They will now look to carry that momentum into a Tuesday night showdown in Philadelphia against the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder (52-22).
Tyrese Maxey (left hip tightness) joined the list of inactives alongside Joel Embiid (left knee meniscus procedure) for the Raptors game. It was a wire-to-wire victory, nonetheless.
Kelly Oubre Jr. scored a season-high 32 points (6-11 3fg). Cam Payne started and made six threes, Nico Batum came off the bench to shoot 5-for-6 from deep, and Kyle Lowry notched an 11-point, 10-assist double-double.
“A lot of guys contributed,” 76ers Head Coach Nick Nurse said postgame. “But a lot of it just had to do with making the right play a lot of the time.”
The first meeting of the season between the Sixers and Thunder was back on Nov. 25 in Oklahoma City, a 127-123 Sixers’ victory. Embiid paced Philadelphia with a game-high 35 points. Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren countered with 33 points and a career-high five 3-pointers. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31 pts) and Maxey (28 points) were the game’s next-highest scorers.
The Sixers remain No. 8 in the Eastern Conference, 1.5 games back of the No. 7 Miami Heat (41-33), with the Heat hosting the New York Knicks (44-30) on Tuesday.
OPPONENT OUTLOOK
The Thunder (52-22) recaptured the top spot in the West with a game-winning shot from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Sunday night at the Knicks, and a subsequent Timberwolves (51-23) loss to the Bulls. The Denver Nuggets (52-23) are a half-game back entering Tuesday.
Jalen Williams, the second-year player from Santa Clara University, scored a game-high 33 points (14-18 fg, 1-4 3fg, 4-8 ft) in 34 minutes against New York. Josh Giddey notched his second triple-double of the season with 16 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists in 31 minutes.
Gilgeous-Alexander averages a team-high 30.3 points per game, which ranks third in the NBA among eligible players behind only Luka Dončić (34.0 ppg) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (30.8 ppg).
Oklahoma City posted an 11-4 record in March after an 8-3 February. The Thunder lead the league in 3-point percentage at 39.1% as a team, and rank in the top five for both offensive and defensive efficiency.
76ERS-THUNDER INJURY REPORT
On Monday afternoon’s official injury report, the 76ers listed the following players as out ahead of Tuesday’s game: Joel Embiid (left knee meniscus procedure), De’Anthony Melton (back; lumbar spine bone stress), and Robert Covington (left knee bone bruise). Tyrese Maxey is questionable with left hip tightness.
"It's great to see him,” Buddy Hield said of Embiid, who has been out for the past two months, but traveled on the recent road trip. “I see all this gravitation with what everybody does to him. The double teams - I see why they do it - because he's so good. I'm excited to see how the team looks and how we play with each other."
For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is questionable due to a right quad contusion.
SUNDAY’S TOP PERFORMANCES
Kelly Oubre Jr.
- Oubre Jr. shot 6-for-11 from 3-point range en route to his season-high 32 points. He added seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks in his 37 minutes at Toronto.
Cam Payne
- Payne also delivered six 3-pointers against the Raptors, finishing with 24 points and three assists in 38 minutes as a starting guard in the absence of Maxey.
- In 30 minutes of play, Harris posted 21 points (8-13 fg, 1-3 3fg, 4-4 ft), nine rebounds, three assists, and three blocks.
Nico Batum
- In 28 minutes off the Sixers’ bench, Batum added an ultra-efficient 19 points (7-8 fg, 5-6 3fg), six rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Kyle Lowry
- For his second double-double as a 76er, Lowry tallied 11 points (4-6 fg, 3-5 3fg) and 10 assists, plus a steal and two blocks in 38 minutes as a starter.
Buddy Hield
- Appearing as a reserve, Hield contributed 11 of his 13 total points (5-7 fg, 3-5 3fg) in the first half.
QUOTE TO NOTE
76ers Head Coach Nick Nurse on the record-setting shooting performance in Toronto…
“We shot the ball really well. But a lot of that was off of some really good, I think, next passes or one more pass. We were creating a lot of those. Things kind of shift [with Maxey out]. Kelly becomes kind of one of our main guys. Cam Payne’s a main driver. Tobias [Harris] had a good segment there when the game got closer.”
FOLLOW ALONG
Tuesday is a 7:30 p.m. EDT start in Philadelphia.
Watch: TNT, truTV
Listen: 97.5 The Fanatic
UNIFORMS
The Sixers will wear their royal blue Icon Edition uniforms, with the Thunder in their orange Statement Edition threads.
@SIXERS SOCIAL