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Oklahoma City Thunder looks to bounce back against the Philadelphia 76ers

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Oklahoma City Thunder looks to bounce back against the Philadelphia 76ers
After a number of pre-season pundits tabbed the Oklahoma City Thunder (3-3) to win the Northwest Division, the team has looked less than stellar to start the season, splitting their first six contests. They look to rebound from their most recent effort,
a 92-83 loss courtesy of the Boston Celtics, when they host the Philadelphia 76ers (2-5) at the Ford Center on Wednesday, 10 November.

The match-up marks the second of a four-game home-stand for the Thunder, who have dropped three of their last four, each by double digits. Although they improved by 27 wins from the 2008-09 campaign to last season, Oklahoma City has looked lacklustre so far
this year for a team that was expected to dominate early and often. As a collective unit, they are currently shooting a league-worst 21.5 percent from behind the three-point line, while wading near the bottom of the NBA in terms of field goal percentage, both
on the offensive (41.5) and defensive (48.1) ends of the floor.

Their overall lack of offensive production, combined with their inability to keep their opponents off the scoreboard early, has doomed the Thunder often this season. Over the course of their past four games, Oklahoma City has gone into the locker room with
an average half-time deficit of 13.3 points. In Sunday’s match-up against the Celtics, they went into the intermission down by 21.

Still, Scott Brooks remained optimistic about the potential his team has to improve over the course of the year.
“Would we like to be 6-0? Yes, a lot of teams would like to do that,” the Oklahoma City coach told the media. “I don’t look at it like we’re struggling. We’re 3-3. There’s room to improve and this team has the ability to improve. We have to find it and keep
pushing it out of our guys.”

The eventual return of forward Jeff Green, who is averaging 19.4 points this season but has been nursing a sprained ankle, could give the Thunder just the boost they need to get back on track. However, his status for Wednesday’s match-up with the 76ers remains
in limbo, putting even more pressure on the league’s reigning scoring champion, Kevin Durant, to perform well.

To counteract his team’s lack of offensive production, Durant has taken it upon himself to carry the load. The small forward, who is playing in his fourth year out of Texas, has taken 28 percent of his squad’s shot attempts this season, head and shoulders above
the rest of the league. However, his 39.4 field goal percentage doesn’t appear to be doing Oklahoma City any favours.

On the other end, the 76ers have been struggling as well, mustering just two wins thus far this season. However, Philly's Elton Brand has seen a resurgence this year, averaging 18.6 points and 8.1 boards per game for his squad. And, despite their record, team-mates
have taken notice of the power forward’s efforts.

“I remember back in the day [Elton] was a beast. He’s just been hurt the last couple of years," rookie shooting guard Evan Turner told the media. “But I feel like he’s really healthy and he’s out there being a warrior.”

With the absence of starting guard Andre Iguodala, who has been out with a strained Achilles’ tendon, Philadelphia will need Brand’s best effort (and then some) if they hope to get past the reloading Thunder.

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