The Lakers’ road win streak wasn’t going to last the length of the season, but they most definitely didn’t want it to end yesterday. They were bent on making a statement against the Sixers, holders of the best record in the East and starring Most Valuable Player candidate Joe Embiid. And for a moment there, it looked as if they would succeed. Despite playing from behind for most of the match, they appeared to set up their desired outcome following an all-too-familiar LeBron James-Anthony Davis connection with 11 seconds left on the clock.
There was just one problem, however. The Lakers misread the Sixers’ intentions on the final play of the set-to and allowed starter Tobias Harris — who had hitherto gone a robust nine of 15 from the field — to drive unimpeded and then bury a short fadeaway jumper for the marginal bucket. Forced to inbound from the opposite baseline with just three ticks left, they could do no better than get Davis to launch a desperation 35-foot heave that had no chance of going in. The loss was just their first in 11 outings away from home, but it nonetheless showed how much they still needed to improve if they truly want to defend their title.
Make no mistake. The Sixers are for real. While long a force down low, Embiid has become a powerhouse playmaker under the charge of new head coach Doc Rivers. His raw numbers have increased significantly, and even the eye test proves how well he has read defenses from outside and in. Yesterday, his extraordinary gravitational pull was precisely what enabled teammates — and particularly Harris — to claim open looks and keep them ahead against the National Basketball Association’s supposedly stingiest defense.
To be sure, the Lakers’ inability to stamp their class per usual stems as much from the Sixers’ strengths as from their own weaknesses. In the midst of the pressures exerted on them by Embiid’s singular physicality, they continually became hard-pressed to adjust accordingly. And so imposing was he down the block that James even got called for a flagrant foul against him. With 5:44 left in the third period, his dunk attempt was foiled by a push from the four-time MVP that was deemed “unnecessary contact” by the referees. He would go on to score seven more point after, in his words, “a dangerous play. I guarantee, if that was me, I would have probably been ejected from the game.”
That James wasn’t tossed certainly helped the Lakers, who came roaring back from a deficit that stood as large as 12 with 3:07 left in the contest. He put up 12 markers in the layoff period, but his leadership, accentuated by two dimes in the crunch was especially critical. As things turned out, however, the Sixers got the outcome they felt they deserved, and versus competition they relished. As Harris pointed out, critics “think we haven’t played anybody. We wanted to go against the champs. We wanted to see where we’re at.” And, judging from yesterday’s victory, they’re right where they want to be.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
