James Harden stepped up overtime to allow his Philadelphia team, now sixth in the NBA Eastern Conference, to beat the Los Angeles Lakers (133-122) on Friday after nearly squandering a 19-point lead.
His teammate Joel Embiid scored 38 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while point guard De’Anthony Melton, 24, posted a personal best in his young career, with 33 points plus seven steals.
And Harden scored nine of his 28 points in overtime to lead the Sixers to a victory.
Philadelphia grabbed a 102-84 lead early in the fourth quarter before the Lakers, boosted by 31 points and 12 rebounds by Anthony Davis, erased a nine-point deficit in the final 29 seconds to push the Sixers into overtime.
During this, the Lakers missed the first nine shots and logically let the win slip away.
“We never should have been in this position in the first place,” Embiid said. “That’s what we’ve been talking about throughout this season.”
“We have to be better. It wasn’t good enough. We have to be focused for 48 minutes. That end (of the 4th quarter) wasn’t us. But I’m happy that we responded in extra time and that we ended up winning,” underlined the native of Yaounde.
– Milwaukee dominates Dallas –
LeBron James, who missed his first six shots, scored 23 points for the Lakers. Fullback Austin Reaves, 24, added 25 points in 41 minutes on the field. And Russell Westbrook had the Lakers first triple-double off the bench since Magic Johnson in 1996 with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
The Los Angeles franchise, only 13th in the Western Conference (at 10-15), will have to seal a winning streak if they are to hope to suspend the playoffs.
Current NBA leading scorer, Slovenian Luka Doncic scored 33 points for Dallas, but Brook Lopez hit a game-winning layup with seven seconds left to allow Milwaukee to beat the Mavericks (106-105).
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece settled for 28 points, ending his eight-game streak at 30 or more. But Milwaukee (19-6) solidified its second place in the Eastern Conference behind Boston (21-5).
Zion Williamson scored 35 points in the victory of the New Orleans Pelicans ahead of the Phoenix (128-117), who thus maintain the leadership in the Western Conference with a record of 17 wins from eight losses. The Suns, third, are up 16-10.
– Nets win in Atlanta –
Williamson delivered a spectacular dunk in the closing seconds of the match which sparked a post-match brawl, during which several players had to be submitted.
Second in the Western Conference with one loss more than the Pelicans, Memphis kept up the pace by predictably beating East-last Detroit (114-103) at home.
Kevin Durant scored 34 points and Kyrie Irving added 33 points and 11 rebounds in Brooklyn’s 120-116 win in Atlanta.
Harrison Barnes scored 20 points and Domantas Sabonis added 18 points and 18 rebounds to lead Sacramento to a convincing victory in Cleveland (106-95).
D’Angelo Russell’s 30 points allowed Minnesota to win against the Utah Jazz (118-108).
German forward Franz Wagner scored a crucial 34 points in Orlando’s win over Toronto (113-109).
Selected for the All-Star Game in 2021, Julius Randle, author of 33 points, contributed extensively to New York’s success against Charlotte (121-102).
Finally, Bahamian Buddy Hield’s 28 points helped Indiana beat Washington (121-111), despite Kristpas Porzingis’ 29 points.
