76ers vs. Thunder: Takeaways From Nail-Biting Victory

Coming off their loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday, the Philadelphia 76ers traveled to Oklahoma City for an early evening matchup with the Thunder. Things went down to the wire, but Joel Embiid and company managed to hold on to secure a win.

Despite facing off against one of the Western Conference's top teams, the Sixers were able to halt their losing streak at two. In the end, they walked away with a 127-123 victory. Here are some key takeaways from the impressive win.

The stars show out

Looking at this matchup, there was tons of star talent to keep an eye on. Joel Embiid and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander entered Saturday as two of the league's top scorers. On top of that, there is Sixers rising star Tyrese Maxey and rookie sensation Chet Holmgren.

All the promising talents did everything they could to lead their team to victory. Embiid nearly notched a triple-double (35 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists), and Maxey had 28 points to go along with three assists. For the Thunder, Holmgren led the way with 33 points, with SGA not far behind him with 31.

The Sixers needed their stars to deliver in a big way in a matchup like this, and Embiid and Maxey put together another strong showing to open the season.

Nic Batum has arguably his best game as a Sixer

Since coming over from the Clippers, Nic Batum has proven to be a great pickup for the Sixers. On Saturday, he had arguably his best performance with his new team.

In 32 minutes of action, Batum did a little bit of everything. He finished with a stat line of 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Batum knocked down four of his seven shot attempts, including going 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.

Aside from having to miss some time for personal reasons, Batum's Sixers tenure is off to a remarkable start. With each passing game, he proves to be more and more that he is the perfect complementary piece for this team. His ability to be a connector-piece type player on both ends has drastically raised the ceiling of this group.

Tobias Harris has another quiet game

Throughout his tenure with the Sixers, Tobias Harris has been know to have good games that fly under the radar. Saturday was the most recent occurrence of this happening.

Many will focus on the big numbers put up by Embiid and Maxey, but Harris had a good all-around game of his own. The veteran forward ended the night with 16 points, five rebounds, and six assists on just under 50% shooting from the field.

Since the James Harden trade, Harris has once again had an expanded role within the offense. He continues to make the most of it, putting up numbers similar to when he was in consideration for an All-Star spot.

Embiid and Maxey get most of the shine, but Harris' quiet play in this game and others have also been a major catalyst in the Sixers' success this season.