Lakers defeated by 76ers by single point

The Philadelphia 76ers won the “final preview.” The Philadelphia 76ers, the Eastern Conference leader, won a narrow 107-106 victory against its Western Conference counterpart, the Los Angeles Lakers, at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Wednesday, ending the Lakers’ 10-game winning streak on the road. The result keeps the 76ers top of the Eastern Conference with 13 wins and six defeats, while the Lakers fall to second in the West.

Right from the start, the 76ers led the game, allowing the Lakers to overtake only twice during the entire game – one at the beginning of the first quarter and the other before the end of the fourth quarter.

The match received a great deal of attention even before it started. Before hired by the 76ers this season, Doc Rivers was a head coach of the Clippers, the rival team of the Lakers. He wanted to lead the team to its first conference finals last season with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to go head-to-head with Leon James and Anthony Davis, but the Clippers lost and he stepped down.

Danny Green and Dwight Howard who played for the Lakers last season are now with the 76ers where they are showing great performance. It was the first game they played against the Lakers after they reunited in Philadelphia and created a great momentum.

Meanwhile, stars from both teams did not fail to up to their reputation. James scored 34 points with six rebounds and six assists, while Davis scored 23 points with eight rebounds for the Lakers. Ben Simmons had a triple double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and Joel Embiid scored 28 points with six rebounds for the 76ers. The defining factor was the third option. Tobias Harris scored 24 points including the game-winning shot and added seven rebounds, leading the team to a victory.


Bae-Jung Kim wanted@donga.com