The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 103-97 in their season opener Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena.
The Thunder (1-0) came into the game as heavy favorites against a 76ers (0-1) team that was debuting some of its new, young talent. Philadelphia pushed the opposition to the final seconds of the game and even entered the fourth quarter with a six-point lead and plenty of confidence, but Russell Westbrook would ultimately play spoiler, scoring 12 of his game-high 32 points in the final period and helping the Thunder win the fourth quarter by a comfortable 12 points. On top of his scoring, Westbrook managed to add on 12 rebounds and nine assists over his 36 minutes of playing time. Steven Adams played 36 minutes right alongside Westbrook, scoring 16 points but grabbing just five rebounds in that span. Enes Kanter provided some quality minutes off the bench, scoring 17 points, eight of which came in the fourth quarter, and grabbing 12 rebounds himself.
For the 76ers, all eyes were on big man Joel Embiid as he made his regular season debut as a member of the team and he did not disappoint, scoring a team-high 20 points, grabbing seven rebounds and blocking a pair of shots in just 22 minutes. Embiid displayed an array of post moves and even managed to show off a smooth midrange stroke. Nik Stauskas, who came close to being cut before the season started, provided a huge jolt of life off the bench Wednesday, shooting 5-of-6 from the field en route to 13 points in 23 minutes. As a team, the 76ers were ultimately done in by their lack of 3-point shooting, hitting just 7-of-24 shots on the night.
The Thunder will return to action on Friday when they take on the Suns, while the 76ers will remain at home Saturday when they matchup with the Hawks.
