National Basketball Association

GAME RECAP: Oklahoma City Thunder 103, Philadelphia 76ers 97

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Philadelphia 76ers opened their regular season schedule with a 103-97 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

The Philadelphia 76ers opened up their season with a bang — No, literally.

Exactly 46 seconds into the first quarter of their Wednesday night clash against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Sixers point guard Sergio Rodriguez connected with Gerald Henderson on a monster alley-oop slam for their first points of the season.

Despite keeping the game close throughout, the Sixers were unable to come out on top. In the end, they fell to the Thunder by a final score of 103-79.

Philly was led by the play of Joel Embiid, who (in his first regular season NBA game) scored 20 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in just under 23 minutes of play.

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From start to finish, every time Embiid checked into the game, the crowd at the Wells Fargo Center erupted. When he was at the free-throw line, the crowd chanted “MVP” and “Trust The Process”. It was obvious that fans in attendance were more than pleased with their prized possession’s debut.

Starting point guard Sergio Rodriguez also had a nice first game in a Sixers uniform, finishing with 12 points and a team-high 9 assists in 32 minutes of action.

Backup point guard T.J. McConnell finished with no points, but dished out 7 assists.

Together, Rodriguez and McConnell had just one total turnover.

Dario Saric shot 2-for-12 in his Sixers debut and finished with just five points, but tied Embiid with a team-high 7 rebounds.

The Sixers actually had the lead up until Thunder guard Russell Westbrook sank two free-throws with 35 seconds left to give Oklahoma City its final lead of the game.

Westbrook finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists (all game-high’s) while teammate Steven Adams contributed 16 points and 5 rebounds.

Next up, the Sixers will host the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, Oct. 29, with the tip-off slated for 12:30 p.m.

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