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'Best' & 'Worst' awards: Sixers vs. Thunder

    by Keith Pompey, The Philadelphia Inquirer
    Published 

OKLAHOMA CITY – My look at some of the best and worst performances from the Oklahoma Thunder's 125-92 victory over the 76ers on Tuesday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena:

Best performance: This is a tough one, because Russell Westbrook recorded a triple-double in just 20 minutes. But I had to give this award to his Thunder teammate Kevin Durant.  The swingman did whatever he wanted against the overmatched Sixers.  Durant had 42 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot in just three quarters of action.

Worst performance: This has to go to Thaddeus Young. The Sixers power forward finally had a hiccup after the trade deadline. He averaged 24.6 points in the five games prior to Tuesday.  But Young was held to six against the Thunder. He missed 10 of his 13 shots and had three turnovers in 22 minutes, 53 seconds of action.  The 6-foot-8, 230-pounder was never able to get into a groove against the equally athletic and taller OKC front court.

Best defensive performance: This award goes to Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka.  He had three blocked shots and altered several others. Ibaka also finished with 14 points and four rebounds – three on the defensive end.

Best performance in a losing effort: James Anderson wins this award after producing team-high 20 points on 7 of 16 shooting. The Sixers shooting guard made four of his first five three-point attempts en route to finishing six of 12.

Worst statistic: You have to give this to the Thunder's 22 turnovers. Westbrook had six in another wise stellar performance.

Best statistic: This award goes to the OKC's rebounding advantage. The Thunder out-rebounded the Sixers, 57-38.

Worst of the Worst:  The Sixers' losing skid.  Tuesday marked their 15th consecutive loss. That matched the 15-game span without a win by the Sixers from Feb. 9 to March 11, 1994. They are five losses away from the franchise-record 20 straight defeats rung up by the infamous 1972-73 team.

Follow and contact Inquirer 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter @PompeyOnSixers