Thunderous Intentions
Fansided

OKC Thunder get their statement victory taking down 76ers in OT – 3 takeaways

By Tamberlyn Richardson

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the OKC Thunder dunks the ball against the Philadelphia 76ers on November 15 (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the OKC Thunder dunks the ball against the Philadelphia 76ers on November 15 (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Chris Paul #3 of the OKC Thunder and Danilo Gallinari #8 celebrate after a play during a game against the Philadelphia 76ers (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Trio takes over clutch minutes and overtime:

The efforts of a trio of OKC Thunder players in the fourth quarter and overtime can be credited for the reason the team won. If you scripted the outcome it couldn’t have gone any better both in terms of capturing this statement win and who delivered it.

At the top of the list was Chris Paul who simply wasn’t going to let his team lose another close game. So often this season the Thunder would compete to keep a game close only to lose in the closing five minutes, but the Thunder flipped the script Friday night.

In the fourth quarter, CP3 used his high I.Q. competitiveness and talent to score 12 points and added another four in overtime for a total of 16 of his 27 points.

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Danilo Gallinari was equally locked in and got to the line a ton in the same time frame. He scored five points in the fourth quarter and seven in overtime.

Initially, Gilgeous-Alexander was having a tough shooting night but like his veteran leaders, he saved his best for last. SGA scored four points in the fourth quarter and six in overtime for 10 of his 24 on the night.

He also had a tough cover trying to keep Ben Simmons in check. Ultimately he got the best of Simmons by annoying the 76ers guard enough to draw his sixth foul resulting in him fouling out of the game (in an unnecessary aggressive push in SGA’s back). Plus he also got Tobias Harris to pick up his sixth foul trying to fight through Shai’s screen so he was responsible for taking out two of the best 76ers.

Of the 27 fourth quarter points and 20 overtime points scored by the Thunder, this trio accounted for 21 and 17 respectively.

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Perhaps we should resurrect the OK3 moniker for this trio.

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