7 highlights from hospital Sixers’ valiant effort in loss to Thunder

The shorthanded Sixers may have fallen to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t a number of highlights from the squad’s effort worth watching.

The hospital Philadelphia 76ers fell 118-102 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.

With eight players from the starting five and main rotation unavailable due to injury, everyone knew going in that this was going to be a huge uphill battle for the Sixers and quite possibly an ugly blowout.

That’s not exactly what happened, though. The undermanned Philly squad actually rose to the occasion and put up a good fight especially through quarters two and three. A big Thunder lead in the first combined with the Sixers’ running out of steam in the fourth, though, and Oklahoma City was able to walk away with the win.

A loss is a loss, I’m not going to spout on about “moral victories” or anything like that. That being said, there were still a couple great Philadelphia plays last night that are worth watching featuring some players that don’t always get time on the floor. So let’s watch them.

If you’re looking for a game recap, you can find that here. Bell Ringer is here.

The Sixers are back on the floor Wednesday night to host the New York Knicks but, until then, let’s just look at some highlights.

1. Guerschon Yabusele slams it home

We all love a slam dunk so of course I’ll throw the fun ones like this on here always, but this is also just a damn fine play. Guerschon Yabusele sets the high screen outside the arc before rolling in towards the paint and Kelly Oubre Jr. hits him with a perfect bounce pass between two Thunder defenders. With Isaiah Hartenstein half a step behind having to adjust his body towards Yabusele, he’s cleared for takeoff and slams home a monster jam.

2. Ricky Council IV’s impressive shooting range

The reason I put this heave from the hash mark from Ricky Council IV is because, while it might seem like dumb luck, it might actually not be. RC4 did the same thing just last week against the Washington Wizards (below). It looks like Council not only has the range to handle these long distance shots, but is composed enough to be able to shoot them accurately when time is ticking and the shot has to go up immediately. Something to keep an eye on to see if the Sixers go to him at all when trapped by low shot clock or low game clock situations.

Last week vs. Wizards:

3. Adem Bona with a dunk of his own

Another play where some good movement off the ball creates an opening for a slam dunk. Hmmm… bold strategy, they might want to consider doing it all the time! But I digress from my sarcasm.

This play opens up when Justin Edwards sends the ball to Adem Bona and Edwards charges toward the rim as an option to pass the ball right back to. Bona stops for a moment drawing two defenders in towards him with both of them arms up seemingly expecting him to force that pass anyway. A quick pump fake pass gets the two defenders off-balanced just enough that Bona is able to change course in that window, with a single dribble towards the bucket before rising up for the dunk.

4. Justin Edwards.

Edwards made the absolute most of the opportunity to get on the floor for some real minutes last night showing off some impressive, fundamental basketball skills. He put up a career-high 25 points and never felt like he was forcing it. He looked tremendous off the dribble and was able to score consistently because of it.

On this play, Edwards hesitates for a moment at the top of the arc with some of the Thunder defense still trailing behind to get back on defense. With a man on him and a second defender in the area about to double him, Edwards hits a little move that runs the two sort of into one another, knocking both off balance and quickly taking advantage with a dash right around them straight to the cup for the gentle finish.

Not bad for an undrafted rookie.

Hey, Nick Nurse, maybe give the kid some run instead of some of the, let’s say, older players on our roster?

5. RC4’s crafty footwork and finish

This is just a stellar individual play from Council. He beats his defender around the elbow and dodges a squeeze of two reaching defenders going right between them. Council still has one more defender between him and the rim, and Council hits him with a big step to his left, getting right around the defender before hitting a circus shot off the window and in.

6. Four points in six seconds for Yabusele

This is a multi-part highlight. In the first few moments, the Thunder defense is spread enough with the shot clock winding down to give Yabusele a lane to drive in and lay it in off the window to cut the Sixers’ deficit to single digits.

There is 5.9 seconds left in the third with the Thunder to inbound to attempt to get up the final shot of the frame. The ball is inbounded to Oklahoma City’s Jaylin Williams who quickly tries to pass the ball up to a teammate, but Jeff Dowtin Jr. had other plans. He quickly shifts off his backpedal to intercept the pass and walk into a pull-up three as time is winding down.

Pause this video at nine seconds in. Yabusele is on the center court logo when Dowtin pulls up for this last second triple. With time running out and half the Sixers’ squad down the other end, I don’t think a single person in the arena expected a rebound let alone a follow up shot after this — you can tell from the audible sigh from the crowd when Dowtin’s shot bounces off back iron.

Then, Yabusele does what Yabusele does. This is the same vein as him battling for every offensive rebound, even on foul shots. He just doesn’t give up on a play if he can help it. He never hesitates. When Dowtin’s shot goes up, he’s running towards the rim and is right there for the midair rebound and put-back as time expires. Four points, six seconds game time.

7. Defense into offense

This is another sequence that starts with a great defensive play from Dowtin. From his pass interception we just discussed to, in this clip, putting up a nice block on Oklahoma City’s Kenrich Williams and snagging the ball away in the process. He pushes forward immediately with a few Sixers’ teammates in quick transition and finds Edwards going down the left side of the court towards the arc. Edwards pulls up outside the perimeter and banks the triple off the window to cut the Thunders’ lead to just four points at that point early in the final frame.

Do I think the bank shot was intentional? Absolutely not. But when the ball gets through the net, it doesn’t always matter how it gets there. A little luck on that part is graciously accepted.

Did you watch the game or were you scared away by the lineup of available players going against the top Western Conference team? What was your favorite Sixers’ highlight from the contest? Let us know in the comments below.