Thunder lose to Sixers, tie franchise record with 14-straight losses
In a 121-90 loss, the Oklahoma City Thunder have officially tied the franchise record for most consecutive losses with 14. The record was previously set in the team's inaugural season back in 2008. Although he wasn't with the team at the time Daigneault referenced the 2008 skid and how it ended up being a positive thing for them long-term.
"It was an ugly start," said Daigneault. "But you can tell a lot of character was built."
Coming into Monday night's contest, Ty Jerome's career-high was 23 points. In one of his best games in a Thunder uniform, Jerome put up 22 points against the Sixers. This came pretty efficiently, on 8-for-12 shooting from the floor, including 4-for-8 from deep.
"Ty sees the floor well, has a really high IQ," said OKC's Kenrich Williams. "It's easy to play with him. Ty has been great."
Still just 23-years-old, Jerome is a former first-round pick who is looking to establish himself as part of the long-term young core in Oklahoma City. Acquired from the Suns in Chris Paul trade last offseason, he's still only scratching the surface of his potential as Monday nights contest was just his 59th career NBA game.
While there weren't many guys who put up big numbers for OKC, there were a handful of players who had solid nights. Outside of Jerome who led the team in scoring, Darius Bazley finished with 14 points on 11 shots while Moses Brown nearly posted a double-double with 11 points and eight boards.
As a team, the Thunder couldn't get anything to drop from deep, finishing the night shooting 7-for-30 from beyond the arc. Additionally, they struggled from the free throw line, finishing 13-for-23. While he didn't play much, Joel Embiid led the Sixers in scoring with 21 points in just 22 minutes of play.
Turnovers continue to be a major issue for Oklahoma City, who are the league's worst in that category. On the night, they committed 28 turnovers, which is the most ever in team history. The Thunder's mindset all season has been learning from experiences and getting better in any way they can.
“No matter what the score is, we as a group want to play the right way," said Jerome. "Want to finish the right way.”
This has become a trend for the Thunder, who have gotten progressively worse over the course of the season when it comes to taking care of the ball. With that in mind, OKC does start a 19-year-old rookie at point guard, so growing pains should be expected. In Monday's loss to the Sixers, Theo Maledon finished with five turnovers while his rookie teammate Aleksej Pokusevski committed five of his own.
The Thunder will now travel to Boston to take on the Celtics Tuesday in the second night of a back-to-back. Losers of two-straight, Boston will be eager to get a win as OKC looks to avoid breaking the franchise record for consecutive losses.
