The Philadelphia 76ers proved why they are the best team in the Eastern Conference. Barely. After blowing a double-digit lead late in the fourth quarter, Doc Rivers’ team managed to get a Tobias Harris jump shot to snuggle its way into the basket with a shade over two seconds to play in the game to escape with a 107-106 win.
With the victory, Philadelphia handed the Lakers their first road defeat of the season. Up until losing to Philadelphia, the Lakers had recorded a 10-0 mark away from STAPLES Center. But they did not go down without a fight. Behind LeBron James’ 34 points, the Lakers rallied late after being down by as many as 14 points in the final period.
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The Lakers outscored Philadelphia 32-26 in the last quarter, including going on a 13-0 run which allowed them to overtake the Sixers by one point, 106-105. Anthony Davis, who finished the game with 23 points, gave the Lakers their only lead in the period, scoring on a lay-in after getting an assist from James.
It’s too bad that there were 11.2 seconds left in the ballgame. It was just enough time for the Sixers to get a quality shot off. Harris, who played for Rivers as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, would do the honors for Philadelphia, connecting on a fadeaway mid-range jump over the Lakers’ Alex Caruso. James, who scored a game-high 34 points in the Lakers’ fifth loss of the season (14-5), said despite the defeat, he liked how his team competed.
Back home in the City of Brotherly Love ? pic.twitter.com/llXoPGw2CF
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 27, 2021
“It was a game of runs for them,” James said afterward in a postgame press conference. “The first quarter, we put them to the free-throw line way too much. I believe they had 12 free throw attempts at the end of the first quarter something like that, and (Joel) Embiid probably had like eight of those and allowed them to get their defense set, neutralized us being us to get stops, getting out on the break. We have to do a better job of that. Besides that, we held them to 21 points in the second, 26, and 26, and gave ourselves an opportunity to win at the end. It didn’t go our way, but loved our fight.”
After giving up 34 points in the first quarter, the Lakers kept the Sixers in check the rest of the way, not allowing Philadelphia to hit the 30-point mark in the other three quarters (21, 26, 26). Harris finished the game with 24 points for Philadelphia. The Lakers are playing in the midst of a seven-game road trip that concludes in Atlanta on Feb. 1.
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com