The Best in the West Thunder host the Best in the East at throwing their fan base into a state of depression Sixers.
The Philadelphia 76ers are riding a wave of some genuinely solid performances lately, beating the Mavericks in Dallas and then losing to the Rockets in overtime in Houston in their last two games. This was supposed to be a devastating (or tremendous from a tanking perspective) road trip for the Sixers, but instead, they’ve risen to the challenge thus far. They now will level up again and go up against the toughest test in the NBA, the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder.
Unlike the Sixers, who are experiencing the season from hell right now, the Thunder have everything going for them. Oklahoma City is running through teams on a regular basis, their core is still young with room to grow and they’ve added a nice sprinkling of veterans to the roster, and the franchise basically owns half of the league’s draft capital through the rest of the decade.
So, yes, normally, the Thunder would be the toughest test Philadelphia would face this season, except maybe they’re doing their part to ensure the Sixers’ first-round pick falls out of the top six and into Sam Presti’s pocket. That would be some real three-dimensional chess by the Thunder GM. Take a look at Oklahoma City’s injury report:
Thunder Injury Report vs. 76ers
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Rest) OUT
Jalen Williams (Hip) OUT
Ousmane Dieng (Calf) OUT
Lu Dort (Hip) OUT
Isaiah Hartenstein (Back) Questionable
Cason Wallace (Shoulder) Questionable
Ajay Mitchell (Toe) OUT
Nikola Topic (ACL) OUT— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) March 18, 2025
That’s MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out for rest, when the Thunder last played on Sunday and don’t play again until Friday. He’s 26 years old. I know the Thunder are 12.5 games up on second-place Houston in the West, but still, this feels like a slap in the face. Plus, we’re probably looking at another half dozen rotation guys not suiting up for OKC. Luckily for the tank, the Sixers are able to throw an injury report counterpunch of their own:
The Sixers have an injury report for tomorrow’s game @ OKC:
OUT: Tyrese Maxey (back/finger), Kyle Lowry (hip), Paul George (groin), Lonnie Walker IV (concussion), Andre Drummond (toe), Adem Bona (ankle)
QUESTIONABLE: Guerschon Yabusele (knee)
DOUBTFUL: Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee)
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) March 18, 2025
And that list doesn’t even include the out for the season guys, a not insignificant group in its own right.
FanDuel currently lists the Thunder as nine-point favorites, but are they accounting for the Quentin Grimes of it all? Grimes has scored over 40 twice this month, including his career-high 46 points against the Rockets. He’s averaging 28.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 2.1 steals, shooting 53.7 percent from the field and 41.3 percent from three. Grimes may be costing the Sixers lottery combinations and money in free agent negotations this summer, but his play is making these last weeks of the regular season exponentially more enjoyable.
Currently, the Sixers are a half-game ahead and behind of Brooklyn and Toronto in the great Tanking Wars of 2025. Those other two squads are idle tonight, with the Raptors likely considering how long they need to play their starters before pulling them in future games. If they reported Scottie Barnes suddenly developed a rare ‘playing in second halves’ allergy, it wouldn’t shock me. Still, a loss tonight and Philadelphia will be back into a tie for the fifth worst record, pulling off this ethical tank as best they can. We’ll see what the Thunder’s B squad has in store for us, and if Nick Nurse’s group can conjure up another entertaining 48 minutes for the viewers at home in the process.
Game Details
When: Wednesday, March 19, 8 p.m. ET
Where: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers