We have reached the NBA season’s quarter mark and it’s no surprise to see the Los Angeles Lakers sit at the top of the Western Conference. What few expected, however, was to see the Philadelphia 76ers first in the East. Led by new trainer Doc Rivers, Philly has clicked on all cylinders so far and jumped to the top of the standings as a result. While there is still a lot of basketball to be played before we have any idea what the post-season image will look like, it was the 76ers who took the best of the Lakers in what some considered a possible preview of the finals on Wednesday night.
The 76ers have been the East class up to this point, behind Joel Embiid’s MVP season and he managed impressive numbers again against Los Angeles, ending the 107-106 victory with 28 points and six rebounds. He had a lot of help, however, as it was Tobias Harris who came around the top hitting the winner of the game with just a few seconds left to give him 24 points in the night. Ben Simmons also added a triple-double of his own. Philadelphia has won four of its last five games and continues its streak at the Wells Fargo Center (10-0).
Unfortunately, that means that the impressive series of Lakers making a perfect 10-0 on the road has come to an end. Led by his own MVP, LeBron James rode another great night, finishing with 34 points, six rebounds and six assists, but in the end it was not enough to slow down a team of Sixers who jumped into the lead and closed the Lakers’ door in the fourth fourth, after Los Angeles tried to recover in the end.
Here are three main lessons in the game:
1. Harris rescues Sixers, keeps high tide
With exactly six minutes left, Danny Green scored following a Ben Simmons feed to give the Sixers a 14 point lead, and it looked like they were on track for an impressive victory over the champions. Only they stopped completely after that point.
In fact, after a bucket from Anthony Davis, they fell by one with 11 seconds to play. That was when Tobias Harris introduced himself. The Sixers did a little pick-and-roll with Harris and Seth Curry, and after the Lakers switched, Harris had an incompatibility with Alex Caruso.
He drove to the left, opened up a little space and emptied the jumper to save the Sixers. Harris finished with 24 rebounds and seven rebounds in the night to continue a hot January. He’s getting 20.8 points and shooting 53.9 percent on the field this month, which is one of his best stretches in the Sixers’ uniform.
2. Difficult fall for Embiid
On Monday, Joel Embiid was left out of the Sixers’ loss to the Detroit Pistons due to back tightness, which has been an irritating problem for him, both this season and at various points early in his career. He did not appear to be very disadvantaged at the start of the game, however, scoring 13 points in the first quarter.
But, during the middle of the third quarter, he received a flagrant foul from LeBron James. The Lakers star placed both hands on Embiid while he was in the air, which caused the big man to lose his balance. Unable to support himself, Embiid fell hard on the deck, falling on his back.
He ended up coming back, but had a giant bandage on his back when he left the bench, and scored just six points for the rest of the night. Hopefully, it will only be painful bruises instead of large ones, but this is definitely something to keep an eye on in the future, especially due to Embiid’s history of injuries.
3. Lakers support cast absent
One of the main reasons for the Lakers’ success this season is that they have such a strong team and they don’t need to depend on LeBron James and Anthony Davis to dominate every night. Arriving at the game on Wednesday night, their bench was fifth in the NBA with a score of 38.8 points per game, and they usually go 11 on their rotation.
This game, however, was the LeBron and AD show. These two combined for more than half of the Lakers’ points, scoring 57 out of 21 out of 40 on the field. Most nights this is a recipe for success, but the help wasn’t there this time – at least not for most of the game.
Although the Lakers’ support cast started to intensify in the fourth period, it turned out to be too little, too late. Dennis Schroder and Alex Caruso were the only other double-digit Lakers, and the entire bank added up to just 22 points.