Despite most — this beat writer included — assuming that the Sixers would have their doors blown off by the NBA's best team defense and individual scorer, the nine players donning red, white and blue played with absolutely no expectation that they were going to be on the wrong end of a blowout.

The Oklahoma City Thunder took a little longer than they needed but escaped with a 118-102 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday. The Sixers waved the white flag before the game even started. One by one,