With the Los Angeles Lakers already two digits below the end of the first quarter on Wednesday, LeBron James ducked his head and headed for the cup, trying to regain some momentum before the quarter break.
Waiting for him at the edge was the burly Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, who eliminated what appeared to be an easy 2 for James, creating a transition opportunity that Danny Green, a former Lakers guard, completed with a top 3 for put Philly up to 16.
It was the kind of sequence that could get those watching to convince themselves to believe that the Sixers are legitimate candidates this season.
There was the 2.1 meter, 280 pound MVP candidate at Embiid anchoring the defense of the top five in Philadelphia and filling one of the greatest finishers in the game’s history at James – featuring his own MVP campaign – leading to a fast break 3 of a three-time champion. Everyone like the new 76ers coach with his own championship credentials, Doc Rivers, oversaw the action on the wings.
This is not to say that the rest of the night was so dominant for the Sixers, of course. LA took advantage of a 13-0 streak at the end of the fourth period to take the lead with 11.2 seconds remaining of a nice James dish for a sharp Anthony Davis, and it looked like the Lakers could keep their perfect 10-0 road in the beginning of the season going. Philly responded, however, with Tobias Harris connecting in a pitch shot over Alex Caruso with three seconds left to win, 107-106.
“They know what they’re looking for,” Lakers big shot Marc Gasol told reporters in a post-game videoconference, praising the Sixers’ direction. “I think all the players have accepted their roles and want to excel in them. They know what they want to live offensively and what they want to live defensively.”
Gasol, who entered the competition with a bit of a reputation as an Embiid fighter – the Sixers’ great man was only 3-5 in his career against Gasol before Wednesday, averaging 10.6 points from 30% of pitches in these games – I couldn’t not interrupt “The Process” this time.
Embiid finished with 28 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Meanwhile, Gasol became ineffective, giving up 15 of those points while protecting Embiid when he went 5-to-9 from the field and 4-to-5 from the possessions foul line where the Lakers’ newly acquired center was in charge of defending him.
“They played through it, and played a lot through it, and they will continue to feed it,” said Gasol. “It’s not like they are leaving and feeding someone else. They know who they are going to play for and how they are going to play, and they feel comfortable with it.
“So, let’s take a look at this and let’s get better.”
A victory in January does not alter the balance of power in the entire league. The Sixers have yet to prove that they are better than the new big three of the Brooklyn Nets, the cohesive core of the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo – just to leave the Eastern Conference.
But a rematch of the 2001 NBA finals between LA and Philadelphia is certainly a possibility 20 years later.
Wednesday’s win gave the Sixers a 10-1 home record this season – they are now 41-5 at the Wells Fargo Center since the start of last season – and improved their overall record to 13-6, the best from the East. They have Embiid playing the best basketball of his career. They have Ben Simmons, a robust defender the size of harassing James. Green and Harris and Seth Curry – who didn’t even play on Wednesday – are constantly batting out.
Much still needs to happen between now and then, but it is not unlikely.
“I think it’s a very good team that they put together,” said James of 76ers. “Give a lot of credit to [general manager] Elton Brand and the things they are doing here. Obviously, Doc has always won practically wherever he is. We will see as the season progresses; there will be many teams in the Eastern Conference playing championship basketball later on. I know that they believe they are one of those teams. “
The Lakers, by virtue of being the champion of the defense, are already a proven candidate. However, last year’s team that proved it can handle Jusuf Nurkic, Nikola Jokic and Bam Adebayo en route to the title was one of the league’s biggest teams.
The Lakers changed in the off-season – they traded JaVale McGee for the Cleveland Cavaliers and let Dwight Howard sign on as Embiid’s reserve, replacing them with Gasol and Montrezl Harrell.
“We are different,” said Lakers coach Frank Vogel of the move to the center. “And different doesn’t have to mean better or worse. I would like to think that we are trying to be a better basketball team this year than we were last year, when we won the championship.”
Whether these Lakers are better than the 2019-20 Lakers is not yet known. Despite Wednesday’s result, they already believe they are better than the 2020-21 Sixers.
“I think our squad and group are very capable of defeating this team in a series of seven games,” said Davis.