76ers 138-94 Lakers (28 Nov, 2023) Game Recap

PHILADELPHIA — LeBron James has never suffered a lopsided basketball loss like the one he suffered against Los Angeles in Philadelphia.

James has already lost big. His Miami Heat has already been beaten by 36 points in the NBA Finals. The Indiana Pacers beat James and the Lakers by 42 in 2019.

But this explosion was historic: By the time Joel Embiid notched a triple-double in the third quarter, the 76ers were en route to a 138-94 victory over the Lakers on Monday night, the 44-point loss now the worst in James’ career dating back to 2003.

“What needs to change so that this doesn’t happen again?” A lot,” James said, without elaborating.

The miserable milestones piled up for the Lakers. It was their worst loss to the 76ers in 290 games in the series.

It was so bad that James couldn’t even bounce back.

OK, one more: the 76ers beat the Lakers for the seventh straight time.

“They’re my favorite team,” Embiid said, emphasizing again that he learned the game of basketball from Kobe Bryant. “Every time I play against them, you want to get the victory. But I do it every night against every other team anyway.

The box score tells part of the story. The 76ers made 22 3-pointers compared to just seven for the Lakers, and even when Embiid sat out the entire fourth quarter, the 76ers still outscored them 40-14.

“We got killed at the 3-point line,” James said. “They shot. Give them credit.

The rest? It was just a lethargic effort from a team that seemed resigned early on – the 76ers led by 25 in the first half – it was a good night to throw in the towel.

“Your competitive spirit has to be at a high level,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “It almost has to be bulletproof to a certain extent. We must meet force with force. They beat us to it. »

The reigning NBA MVP, Embiid finished with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his sixth career triple-double. It was Embiid’s first game of the season and his seventh career game with 10+ assists.

Embiid’s expected showdown with James never really came to fruition. James scored 18 points in 29 minutes, but nothing he did could cut into the 76ers’ lead. He has now played more minutes than any player in NBA history, including time in the playoffs.

“That doesn’t mean much to me,” James said.

Tyrese Maxey scored 31 points for the 76ers. Anthony Davis had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers.

The 76ers opened the game with 3-pointers and scored a mid-season high 13 on 26 shots.

Maxey hit four. The Lakers, however, left open every Sixer not named Maxey or Embiid and paid for it. Patrick Beverley scored three at halftime and Marcus Morris Sr. made it 3 for 3. Embiid buried one for a 64-39 lead.

The Lakers missed 7 of 10 3s at halftime.

With Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts surveying the field, Embiid blocked Davis with such authority that the slap could be heard deep down the field.

Maxey scored 20 at the break as he tries to strengthen his bid for his first All-Star berth. Embiid had 17 as he won his third straight title.

“You definitely don’t go into a game like this expecting this kind of game to break out,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “When the 3 ball starts moving forward like they did early on, I think it energizes everyone.”

The 76ers put away their 12th victory early.

They also scored points for trash talk when forward Paul Reed called Davis a “big failure.”

“You know, he’s going to struggle,” Reed said during the filming.

Both coaches were perplexed as to why a substitute pushed Davis.

“Go keep it, I guess.” Good luck, Paul,” Ham said.

Never mind. The game was never competitive enough to worry too much about mistakes and failures.

The 76ers earned their second straight win after a two-game losing streak and could soon get Kelly Oubre Jr. back. Oubre was averaging 16.3 points in eight games before being injured in an alleged hit-and-run accident. He participated in the shootaround and could join the 76ers on their upcoming two-game road trip.

FOLLOWING

Lakers: Host back-to-back road games Wednesday at Detroit and Thursday at Oklahoma City.

76ers: Hit the road for games Wednesday at New Orleans and Friday at Boston.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba