Philadelphia 76ers Undefeated With Starting Five After Handing Lakers First Road Loss Of Season
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- The Philadelphia 76ers handed the Los Angeles Lakers their first road loss of the season Wednesday night, and are now undefeated with their starting five. According to StatMuse, the 76ers are 10-0 with their starting lineup of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Seth Curry and Danny Green.
On Wednesday night, Harris swished a jumper with 3 seconds left, ending the Lakers' 13-0 run and sending the Philadelphia 76ers to a 107-106 victory over Los Angeles.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a 3-pointer with 1:05 left that pulled the Lakers to 105-104. LeBron James hit Anthony Davis for the go-ahead basket with 11.2 seconds to go for a 106-105 lead and cap that run.
Harris scored 24 points. Joel Embiid had 28 and Ben Simmons had 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
James scored 34 points and Davis had 23.
Embiid appeared to have hurt his back when he was knocked down by James.
Embiid, the All-Star center off to the best start of his career, drove down the baseline for an attempted right-handed dunk when James pushed him in flight. Embiid crashed hard on his tailbone, immediately grabbed his back and writhed on the court in pain as James simply looked down and walked past him. After a short video review, James was hit with a flagrant 1 — "unnecessary contact committed by a player against an opponent" — and Embiid sank both free throws.
He wanted the King tossed.
"That's a very dangerous play," Embiid said. "I guarantee if that was me I would have probably been ejected from the game."
Embiid was quickly hit with his own flagrant when his elbow connected with Davis' face on a drive to bucket.
Embiid has a history of back issues and sat out Monday's loss at Detroit with back tightness. He sat alone on a cool-down seat behind the basket for nearly the first 5 minutes of the fourth quarter. Embiid returned and threw his hands in the air in celebration when he buried a shot that gave the Sixers a 10-point lead.
The James-Embiid flagrant took center stage in a game between teams that entered with the best records in their conference. The 76ers lead the East at 13-6 and the Lakers are 14-5 in the West.
The Lakers suffered their first road loss of the season in 11 games.
Embiid went straight up and blocked James in the first quarter and Danny Green buried a 3 in transition for a 34-18 lead that put the Sixers in control.
The Sixers are in first place of the Eastern Conference with a 13-6 record.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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