Green stars but Howard ejected in Lakers reunion
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The Sixers' Dwight Howard pushing Montrezl Harrell as the Lakers player challenges Paul Reed, earning a second technical foul that ended his night at the Staples Centre. But his team won 109-101.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
LOS ANGELES • The Philadelphia 76ers' Danny Green and Dwight Howard both received the championship rings they won last year with the Los Angeles Lakers before their National Basketball Association (NBA) game at the Staples Centre on Thursday.
Following that, the duo stole the headlines for different reasons.
Green shot eight-for-12 from three-point range and scored a game-high 28 points to help the visiting Sixers to a 109-101 win, which also meant that the Lakers have now suffered a fourth straight defeat since losing superstar LeBron James to injury.
Howard's return, however, was short-lived as he was ejected at the end of the first quarter after clashing with Montrezl Harrell.
A confrontation between the two ended with Harrell shoving Howard, with both receiving technical fouls.
A minute later, Howard strode into Harrell, prompting another shove and a second technical that spelled the end of his night.
"Clowns," was Sixers coach Doc Rivers' view of the back-and-forth between the two. "It's ridiculous, on both parts."
Philadelphia won despite the absence of star Joel Embiid, who is still nursing a left knee injury.
"Got a chance to see some of my brothers, compete against them, and there's nothing better than to come out with a win," Green said.
When asked on ESPN why he played so well against the team who traded him, he replied: "Coincidence? Possibly. Probably."
Seth Curry returned after missing the past three games with a sprained left ankle and scored 19 points, and Tobias Harris finished with 17 points for the Sixers, who have won 10 of 11 to remain atop the Eastern Conference standings on 32-13.
Kyle Kuzma scored 25 points to lead the Lakers (28-17). Dennis Schroder and Harrell scored 20 each for Los Angeles, who have yet to find a way to win with James sidelined by an ankle sprain and star big man Anthony Davis still "a ways away" from returning from a right calf injury.
"We're not trying to just hold on," Harrell insisted. "We're trying to compete, play the right way and win some basketball games. We're in a tough patch right now. We've lost a couple of games, but we're not going to stop, and we're going to fight."
His coach Frank Vogel also urged the Lakers to maintain their focus and tighten up in defence.
He said: "Each of the last three or four games, we've had one really bad quarter. We need to prevent that and play a 48-minute night. We're just having a stretch where we make some poor decisions and miss some assignments on the defensive end."
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
