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 severely shorthanded Sixers fell to a 118-102 loss Tuesday night to the Western Conference-leading Thunder.

The Sixers’ schedule for the next two weeks is about to get a whole lot tougher. It starts with Tuesday’s contest against the 32-6 Thunder, as Joel Embiid remains out.