PHILADLEPHIA — Joel Embiid waved his index finger, Dikembe Mutombo style, as Patrick Beverley fired a desperation jumper after the shot-clock buzzer sounded.
After surrendering 10 points during a frenzied final 29 seconds of regulation, the Sixers defense held the Los Angeles Lakers scoreless for nearly the duration of overtime to secure a wild 133-122 victory Friday night in front of a charged crowd at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Lakers did not score in the extra frame until Beverley got free under the basket with 35 seconds to play and the Sixers up by 132-120. James Harden anchored the Sixers on the other end, scoring nine of his 28 points in those five minutes.
But a Sixers collapse in the final minute of regulation is what led to overtime. After De’Anthony Melton — who scored a career-high 33 points on 11-of-16 shooting — buried a 3-pointer that put the Sixers 118-110 with 44.3 seconds to play, they were outscored 10-2 thanks to a barrage of Sixers miscues.
They committed three turnovers, missed one free throw, and fouled Austin Reaves on a 3-point attempt. Yet the Lakers’ Anthony Davis also missed the potential game-winning free throw with 3.1 seconds to play.
It was a game that was sloppy at times and entertaining in others. The Sixers (13-12) built an early 13-point lead on Embiid’s brilliance, then lost it when he was off the floor. They took a 10-point advantage into the final period, then failed to hold off the Lakers’ late rally in regulation.
Melton’s point total surpassed the 25 he scored against the Denver Nuggets in April 2021. Embiid finished with 38 points (20 in the first quarter) on 14-of-19 shooting, 12 rebounds and five assists. Davis totaled 31 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, while LeBron James finished with 23 points on 9-of-22 shooting and six assists for the Lakers.
The victory snapped the Sixers’ three-game losing skid and began a seven-game homestand, their longest of the season. They will next play the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night, followed by games against the Sacramento Kings (Tuesday), Golden State Warriors (Dec. 16), Toronto Raptors (Dec. 19), Detroit Pistons (Dec. 21) and Los Angeles Clippers (Dec. 23).
Embiid’s dominant start
Embiid was masterful to start his 38-point outing, scoring 20 in the opening frame on 8-of-9 shooting.
He mixed jumpers, finishes inside and 3-pointers. And he closed the quarter with the power and flair that perhaps only he possesses in the game right now, punching a thunderous dunk on Thomas Bryant before hitting a fadeaway deep ball just before the buzzer.
He also helped get Davis off the floor, drawing two of the Lakers star’s three fouls in the game’s first five minutes.
Unsurprisingly, the Sixers’ double-digit lead rapidly evaporated when Embiid was off the floor to start the second quarter. When he returned, he almost immediately hit the go-ahead 3-pointer and followed a Shake Milton miss to help the Sixers take a two-point lead into the break.
Embiid later tried to posterize Davis with the Sixers up 106-95 about midway through the fourth, but was called for an offensive foul and missed the dunk off the front of the rim.
Harden’s uneven night
Until his overtime scoring, Harden had put together another uneven night in his second game back from a foot injury. He went 9 of 19 from the floor, and added 12 assists and four rebounds.
His found more rhythm on his shot as the game progressed. Early in the fourth quarter’s opening two minutes, he hit step-back 17-footer and a 3-pointer that propelled the Sixers to a 102-84 lead.
He started 1 of 5 from the floor, including missing a clean look at the rim. But he knocked down a 3-pointer about midway through the second, and then drew contact on another made deep shot that caused the home crowd to explode.
Bench adjustments
With Georges Niang and Danuel House Jr. both sidelined with foot injuries, Sixers coach Doc Rivers initially deployed an eight-man rotation until late inserting Matisse Thybulle (nine points on 4-of-7 shooting) for the second quarter’s final two minutes.
That decision worked out excellently. Thybulle scored six points — a driving dunk, an alley-oop finish from Harden and another slam — to ensure the Sixers would have the lead heading to the locker room. Thybulle was then rewarded as the Sixers’ first sub after the break, and hit a corner 3-pointer that gave the Sixers a 93-79 lead late in the period.
Before that second-quarter burst from Thybulle, Milton (six points, four rebounds, three assists in 24 minutes) was the first Sixer off the bench, followed by Furkan Korkmaz (two points, three rebounds in nine minutes) and Paul Reed (zero points, three fouls in four minutes). Montrezl Harrell, not Reed, subbed in for Embiid at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The Lakers had a 40-17 advantage in bench points, led by Reaves’ 25 points and Russell Westbrook’s triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
Stat watch
Entering the game, Rivers said he was concerned about the Lakers’ ability to score in transition and in the paint, two categories they ranked in the top 5 in the NBA.
They finished with 32 fast-break points and 54 in the paint. A significant chunk came during that second-quarter surge, when they scored 12 in transition and 14 inside.
