Philadelphia 76ers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder 1/4/13: Video Highlights and Recap

The Oklahoma City Thunder showed why they are one of the truly elite teams in basketball, dispatching of the Philadelphia 76ers 109-85 at home.

The young 76ers appeared as though they could keep up with the Thunder in the early going. The Sixers only trailed by four at halftime, but the second half would prove to be their undoing.

Simply put, the Thunder couldn't miss from the field. As a team, Oklahoma City shot over 50 percent from the floor and shot 58 percent from beyond the arc. Russell Westbrook led the team in scoring with 27 points and was 10-of-17 from the floor, including a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point land.

The Sixers got a great performance from Nick Young off the bench in an otherwise lackluster performance. The shooting guard put up 21 points in 28 minutes and was 5-of-7 on threes.

In the end, the Thunder simply had too many scoring options and exposed a very weak Philadelphia defense en route to an easy win in the second half.

Player of the Game: Kevin Durant, SF, Oklahoma City Thunder

Russell Westbrook scored one more point than Durant, but it was the Durantula who carried the day for the Thunder.

The prolific scorer went for 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting and also got to the line with frequency, going 9-for-10 from the stripe. In addition to being the catalyst on offense, he snared six rebounds and dished out three assists.

When Durant is efficient and getting the ball, the Thunder are extremely difficult to defend, and the Sixers found that out the hard way.

Up Next for 76ers

Philadelphia next travels to San Antonio to take on the 26-9 Spurs.

Up Next for Thunder

Oklahoma City will next travel to Toronto to take on the 12-21 Raptors.