The Sixers waved the white flag before the game even started. One by one, Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey were all ruled out. Despite that, the depleted Philly squad forced OKC to sweat out a close victory.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting to guide the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder to a 118-102 win over the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.

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.