In overtime, the Sixers beat the Lakers thanks to Harden
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Washington (AFP) – James Harden rallied in overtime to help Philadelphia, already sixth in the NBA Eastern Conference, beat the Los Angeles Lakers (133-122) after squandering a 19-point lead on Friday.
His teammate Joel Embiid had 38 points and 12 rebounds, and 24-year-old point guard De’Anthony Melton had a personal best in his young career with 33 points and 7 steals.
And Harden scored nine of his 28 points in overtime to lead the Sixers to victory.
Philadelphia led 102-84 early in the fourth quarter, the Lakers, powered by 31 points and 12 rebounds from Anthony Davis, erased a nine-point deficit in the final 29 seconds to push the Sixers into overtime.
In that stretch, the Lakers missed their first nine shots and logically missed out on the win.
“We should never have been in this position,” Embiid said. “That’s what we’ve been talking about all season.”
“We have to be better. It wasn’t good enough. We have to concentrate for 48 minutes. It wasn’t us at the end (of the 4th quarter). But I’m glad we responded in extra time and ended up winning,” emphasized the Yaounde resident.
“Milwaukee” prefers “Dallas”.
LeBron James, who missed the first six shots, had 23 points for the Lakers. 24-year-old guard Austin Reaves added 25 points in 41 minutes on the court. And Russell Westbrook had the first triple-double off the Lakers’ bench since Magic Johnson in 1996 with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
The Los Angeles franchise, which is only 13th in the Western Conference (10-15), will need a series of victories if it has any hope of stopping the playoffs.
The current NBA scorer, Slovenian Luka Doncic, scored 33 points for Dallas, but Brook Lopez scored a decisive layup with seven seconds left to defeat the Milwaukee Mavericks (106-105).
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece finished with 28 points, ending his eight-game streak with 30 or more points. But Milwaukee (19-6) solidified second place in the Eastern Conference behind Boston (21-5).
Zion Williamson scored 35 points as the New Orleans Pelicans beat Phoenix (128-117) to maintain their lead in the Western Conference with 17 wins over eight losses. Sun, the third, is at 16-10.
The Nets won in Atlanta
Williamson made a spectacular dunk in the final seconds of the game that led to a brawl after the game, during which several players had to be subdued.
Memphis, second in the Western Conference by more losses than the Pelicans, continued its momentum by defeating Detroit (114-103) in last place in the East at home.
Kevin Durant scored 34 points and Kyrie Irving added 33 points and 11 rebounds in Brooklyn’s 120-116 win over Atlanta.
Harrison Barnes scored 20 points, and Domantas Sabonis had 18 points and 18 rebounds to lead Sacramento to a convincing victory (106-95) in Cleveland.
D’Angelo Russell’s 30 points allowed Minnesota to win at the Utah Jazz (118-108).
German winger Franz Wagner scored 34 crucial points in Orlando’s victory over Toronto (113-109).
2021 All-Star Julius Randle scored 33 points in New York’s 121-102 win over Charlotte.
Finally, despite Kristpas Porzingis’ 29 points, Bahamian Buddy Hield’s 28 points helped Indiana defeat Washington (121-111).
© 2022 AFP
