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.

The Sixers could not overcome a gigantic difference in manpower Tuesday night against the Western Conference-leading Thunder They fell to a 118-102 loss at Wells Fargo Center, dropping to 15-23 with their third consecutive defeat.

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the nine-man Philadelphia 76ers 118-102 Tuesday night, securing three straight road wins. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recorded 32 poi

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.

Here are the three biggest takeaways for the Philadelphia 76ers following a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points and Jalen Williams had 24 to lead the Oklahoma City ... with 25 points, and Jeff Dowtin Jr. had 18. Thunder: Gilgeous-Alexander ...

The G League lineup for the Philadelphia 76ers made things interesting against the mighty Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

The banged up version of the Philadelphia 76ers put up a great effort, but they fall short to the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

The Sixers trailed by 21 points after the first 9:30 of “action,” by 16 after one quarter and watched the Thunder hit 13 of their first 15 shots from the field. A very MVP-like 32 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and 24 from Jaylin Williams eventually asserted the Thunder’s obvious superiority.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting, nine assists and three rebounds. He shot 1-of-3 from 3 and went 7-of-8 on free throws. To start off, he hit on a career-best 10 straight shots. He was unconscious as every drive ended in a layup or a whistle.

Even without important pieces like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Dereck Lively II, both teams' role players simmered the beef between the ball clubs. The usually well-mannered Thunder were hit with multiple technical fouls. PJ Washington continued to poke the bear.