Thunder Overcome 24 Point Deficit Beat Sixers 102-97

Billy Donovan sounded like his old self during his pregame press conference. Donovan was back to preaching consistency and staying engaged even when you're not playing.

Sunday's 102-97 win over the Philadelphia 76ers is an example of that message getting through to his young bench players. The Thunder overcame a 24 point deficit on the backs of Darius Bazley, Mike Muscala, Andre Roberson, and Hamidou Diallo.

Not precisely the Oklahoma City death lineup, but one that showed in a pinch they could still provide a spark. Before we get too excited, let's member, the 76ers were resting their starters while the bulk of this come back was happening.

Donovan says he didn't think Diallo and Bazley "were all that great against Boston."...."But being a young player, it's a lot of times about how you come back from something."

"I think the biggest thing with Darius is that he was aggressive, I think he made decisive decisions whether they were good or bad, he had a couple of plays that weren't great, but he was decisive."...."I thought he [Bazley] played with a really good motor and energy."

"Those young guys as long as they can take those experiences and there's gonna be ups and downs that's part of their growth and maturing as players."..."What you want to see is resiliency and a fight to be able to bounce back."

Donovan says that both Bazley and Diallo have been practicing much better than they played against the Celtics. Bazley wasn't showing any ill effects from the knee bone bruise that kept him out of the last 11 games before the shutdown.

Health and depth are the most significant factors going into this restart, and the Thunder have both. Andre Roberson had another massive day for the Thunder, nailing back to back threes last in the fourth quarter the first giving Oklahoma City at 98-97 lead, the next extend that lead to 101-97.

Sweet rally by the Thunder reserves, 24 point deficit erased against Philadelphia.
— Steve McGehee (@SteveMcGehee) July 26, 2020

You can tell Roberson has been working on the offensive end his game, showing he has the ability he to knock down wide-open shots when given a chance. Roberson says he was much more comfortable Sunday and used Friday's scrimmage to get all the nerves out.

The Thunder have one more preseason game to go when they take on the Portland Trailblazers Tuesday at 5 pm.

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With more than 20 years of experience hosting local and national radio shows, Erik Gee is a fixture of Oklahoma sports media. He has covered the Oklahoma City Thunder for the past six seasons. He is also the co-host of the Pat Jones show on 97.1 The Sports Animal in Tulsa.

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