We reached the quarterfinals of the NBA season, and it’s no surprise to see the Los Angeles Lakers sit on top of the Western Conference. What few expected, however, was to see the Philadelphia 76ers first in the East. Led by new coach Doc Rivers, Philly has so far clicked on all the cylinders and consequently jumped to the top of the standings. While there is still a lot of basketball left to play before we have an idea what the post-season picture will look like, it was the 76ers who scored the best of the Lakers in what some considered a potential preview Wednesday night. .
The 76ers were up to this point the class of the East behind Joel Embiid’s MVP caliber season and he once again scored impressive figures against Los Angeles which ended the 107-106 victory with 28 points and six rebounds. However, he had a lot of help, as it was Tobias Harris who hit the heads and persuaded the game by just a few seconds to give him 24 points at night. Ben Simmons also hacked a triple double of his own. Philadelphia has now won four of its last five games and puts out its series of lights in the Wells Fargo Center (10-0).
Unfortunately, that means the Lakers’ impressive run to have a perfect 10-0 series on the way has come to an end. Led by their own MVP, LeBron James put together another great night with 34 points, six rebounds and six assists, but in the end it was not enough to slow down a Sixers team that took an early lead and closed the door. the Lakers in the fourth quarter after Los Angeles tried to pull together late.
Here are three important takeaways from the game:
1. Harris saves Sixers, keep the hot line
With exactly six minutes left, Danny Green scored a refuge from Ben Simmons to give the Sixers a 14-point lead, and it looked like they were on their way to sailing to an impressive victory over the defending champion. Only they got completely stuck to the point.
In fact, after a bucket from Anthony Davis, they were up by 11 seconds to play one. That’s when Tobias Harris performed. The Sixers picked a bit and ran alongside Harris and Seth Curry and after the Lakers switched, Harris was the mismatch with Alex Caruso.
He drove left, created some space and drained the jumper to save the Sixers. Harris bounced back that evening with 24 and 12 sessions to continue a red-hot January. He scored 20.8 points and shot 53.9 percent off the field this month, which is one of his best pieces in a Sixers uniform.
2. Difficult fall for Embiid
Joel Embiid on Monday pronounced the Sixers’ defeat against the Detroit Pistons due to the tightness of the back, which was a troubling affair for him, both this season and at various points earlier in his career. He does not appear to be hampered early in the game, but he scored 13 points in the first quarter.
But during the middle of the third quarter, he was on the receiving end of a blatant offense by LeBron James. The Lakers star laid two hands on Embiid while he was in the air, causing the big man to lose his balance. Unable to support himself, Embiid crashed hard to the deck and landed right on his back.
Eventually he popped in again, but had a giant wrap on his back as he left the bench, scoring just six points the rest of the night. Hopefully it will just be painful bruises rather than anything bigger, but it’s definitely something to watch to move forward, especially given Embiid’s injury history.
Lakers’ supporting cast absent
One of the main reasons for the Lakers’ success this season is that they have such a deep team and do not have to rely on LeBron James and Anthony Davis to dominate every night. In Wednesday night’s game, their bench was fifth in the NBA with 38.8 points per game, and they were often 11 deep in their rotation.
This match, however, was the LeBron and AD performance. These two combined for more than half of the Lakers points and scored 57 on 21-of-40 from the field. Most nights it’s a recipe for success, but the help was not there this time – at least not for most of the game.
While Lakers fans began to increase in the fourth quarter, it eventually proved too little, too late. Dennis Schroder and Alex Caruso were the only other Lakers in double figures, and the entire bench combined just 22 points.