Joel Embiid’s triple-double fuels Philadelphia 76ers to blowout over Los Angeles Lakers
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LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers shooting past Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers in their NBA game.
PHOTO: AFP
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PHILADELPHIA – Joel Embiid may have delivered his sixth National Basketball Association (NBA) triple-double on Nov 27, but it was the Philadelphia 76ers’ three-point shooting that caught the eye.
The Cameroonian centre, last season’s NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), had 30 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to lead Philadelphia’s 138-94 rout of the visiting Los Angeles Lakers.
It was his first triple-double of the campaign on the same night the Sixers made 22 three-pointers, one shy of the club record in a single game. He made nine-of-15 from the floor, including two-of-three from three-point range, and sank 10 of his 12 free throws.
“You’re trying to play winning basketball. When my teammates are wide open, I want to get them easy shots, just make the game easy for myself,” Embiid said, preferring to speak about the team rather than himself.
Tyrese Maxey scored a game-high 31 points and added eight assists for Philadelphia, who shot 47-of-93 from the floor and 22-of-46 from three-point range.
“We’re playing together. We’re having fun sharing the ball. The ball is moving. We know what we’ve got to do. It’s starts on defence. Once you get stops, you get in transition and get easy baskets,” Embiid added.
Maxey went five-of-12 from three-point range, while Patrick Beverley was four-of-eight from beyond the arc and Marcus Morris was four-of-five with three-point shots.
“We want everyone to shoot a ton of threes and it paid off today. When we get on the court, it’s easy. In practice, we give each other hell,” Beverley said.
Sixers coach Nick Nurse was also pleased with his team’s three-point shooting at the Wells Fargo Centre.
“You certainly don’t go into a game like this expecting that kind of game to break out. When the three-ball starts going in the way they did early, I think that just energises everybody,” he said.
It was the most lopsided blowout in the history of the rivalry, eclipsing a 31-point win (98-67) by the Syracuse Nationals, who moved to Philadelphia, over the then-Minneapolis Lakers in November 1951.
Four-time NBA MVP LeBron James led the Lakers with 18 points, while Anthony Davis added 17 and 11 rebounds.
The Lakers hit their first four shots and then missed 10 of their next 11, going more than four minutes without a basket, while the Sixers went on a 20-2 run.
Philadelphia pulled ahead 98-80 entering the fourth quarter and the Lakers never threatened in the final minutes.
The Sixers improved to 12-5, one game behind Eastern Conference leaders Boston Celtics, while the Lakers (10-8) slid to eighth in the Western Conference.
The 44-point loss surpasses the 42 points that separated the Lakers and the Indiana Pacers in 2019, which was previously the heaviest defeat of James’ NBA career that dates to 2003.
“What needs to change in order for that to not happen again? A lot,” said the superstar forward.
“We got killed on the three-point line. They made shots. Give them credit,” added James.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham, meanwhile, said that his team’s competitive spirit needs to be at a “high level”.
“It almost has to be bulletproof to a certain degree. You have to meet force with force. They out-hustled us,” he added.
AFP, REUTERS
