Can OKC take `The Streak' to 20?

The Thunder has an unprecedented streak going against the 76ers. Entering Thursday, the Thunder has won 19 consecutive games against Philadelphia – the longest current winning streak of any team against another in the NBA. Russell Westbrook is 19-1 in his career against the 76ers, his last loss coming Nov. 15, 2008, the Thunder's first game in franchise history against Philadelphia and Westbrook's rookie season. Some of the Thunder's success has come during the dark days of Philadelphia basketball, when the 76ers were tanking for draft picks to rebuild. But in the last three seasons, two of the five Thunder-76ers matchups have been decided by six points or fewer, including a triple-overtime thriller last season in Philadelphia, and this season's Paul George four-point play with OKC facing a late deficit. "They've had a good team for a long time, and I think we've just been up and down as an organization," said 76ers guard T.J. McConnell, who was a rookie on a 10-win Sixers team in 2016-17. "We're obviously trending in the right direction now, but they've always been well coached and had great players, and that usually gets it done in the NBA." The Sixers will have to fight off the dubious streak of 20-consecutive losses to the Thunder without its two primary centers. All-Star Joel Embiid will not play due to left knee soreness and backup center Boban Marjanovic is out due to a right knee injury. "We're not really into moral victories," McConnell said. "We just wanna come out with a W against them, kind of get that off our backs and focus on the next game after that." Westbrook catching fire Has Russell Westbrook awoken from his shooting slump? The Thunder said this offseason that Westbrook needed to become a better catch-andshoot 3-point shooter. He's found a touch from deep in the last four games, shooting 8-of-14 on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, and 17-of-42 (40.5 percent) overall from 3-point range. Even more important to Westbrook's offense is his shooting from close range. Westbrook is shooting 73.1 percent (19-of-26) from within five feet of the rim following the All-Star break. That's fourth in the NBA in that span behind the Los Angeles Clippers' Montrezl Harrell, Dallas's Dwight Powell and Miami's Hassan Whiteside, all frontcourt players. Prior to Tuesday's game in Denver, Westbrook's efficiency was up, but on a high volume of shots. On Tuesday, Westbrook shot 8-of-14 from the field the 121-112 loss to the Nuggets. Stat of the day 15.9: Points per 100 possessions better than the Nuggets the Thunder was with Nerlens Noel in the game against Denver's Nikola Jokic. The Thunder was minus-36.2 points per 100 possessions worse with Steven Adams on the floor against Jokic. That's not to say Noel is the better player, but he fared better Tuesday against Denver's AllStar center.