The Oklahoma City Thunder kick off their season in the City of Brotherly Love, as they play the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday at Wells Fargo Center.
This marks a historic game for the Thunder franchise, as they’ll play their first game without superstar Kevin Durant. The well publicized move to Golden State has Oklahoma City needing to fill a gap that is seemingly too large to overcome. Russell Westbrook will take even more responsibility, as he is expected to flirt with triple-doubles on a nightly basis. It’s not all Westbrook though, as Victor Oladipo is anticipated to take a huge leap this season filling in for Durant after his move from Orlando. Youngsters like Steven Adams, Andre Roberson and Enes Kanter all need to take some leaps as well, if they want to fill that inevitable void.
The Sixers have 47 combined wins over their last three seasons and that’s easily the worst mark in the NBA. There are some things to be excited about though, as the young core of Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel, Ben Simmons and Jahlil Okafor are expected to revitalize this franchise. Injuries have become a nuisance though, as Embiid is the only healthy player of those four and he’s been a notoriously injury-prone player throughout his short career. Philadelphia actually finished last season in the bottom-five in scoring, points allowed, rebounds and assists per game. Fans will hope that they can improve on those numbers and surpass their ghastly 10-win total from last season.
The Thunder come into this game as an eight-point road favorite with the two teams expected to combine for 208 points. All the injuries in this matchup are on the Sixers side, as Ben Simmons, Jerryd Bayless and Nerlens Noel have all been ruled out, with Jahlil Okafor and Robert Covington questionable coming in.
