Sixers Bell Ringer: Sixers trip over themselves into an overtime win over the Lakers

Sixers regular season Bell Ringer standings:

Joel Embiid- 8
James Harden- 4
Shake Milton- 4
Tyrese Maxey- 3
Paul Reed- 2
Tobias Harris- 2
Georges Niang- 1

With three days off this week, the Philadelphia 76ers had plenty of time to think over their recent three-game losing streak. Back home hosting the Los Angeles Lakers, things certainly went much better than Monday in Houston. The Sixers survived an eight-minute stretch in the second quarter when the Lakers made 13 straight field goals and still led by two at halftime. Philadelphia then pulled away in the third quarter and looked to be coasting to a win, up by 16 with four minutes left, and still up by nine inside the final minute. Then, they did everything possible to give the game away, and only even made it to overtime after Anthony Davis missed a second free throw with seconds remaining. Fortunately, the Sixers pulled it together and outscored LA in overtime, 13-2, to avert a complete disaster. Still, it was not at all how this 133-122 win should have felt. Let’s now circle back to the positive performances from tonight’s victory.

Joel Embiid: 38 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 7 turnovers

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Is there a way to trick Joel into thinking he’s playing Anthony Davis every game? Because the big fella was locked in tonight. Embiid took full advantage of his size and strength advantage over AD, bullying the Lakers star inside and helping Davis along to three quick early fouls. When backup Thomas Bryant came in, Joel then unleashed an absolutely hellacious dunk down the lane. To make matters worse for the Lakers, Joel also had his outside shot working, finishing 3-of-4 from three, no more difficult than his on-the-move three from the corner in the final second of the first quarter. Embiid matched the entire Lakers team with 20 points in the opening frame.

Embiid cooled down the scoring a bit from there, but in addition to his 38 points, he did a solid job working the ball around to his teammates, and helped set the tone defensively. All in all, it was exactly what you wanted to see from your team’s superstar to help pull them out of a tailspin.

De’Anthony Melton: 33 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 7 steals, 2 turnovers

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With Embiid doing the bulk of the scoring in the first half, it was Melton who took the baton after halftime, scoring 16 of the Sixers’ 32 points in the third quarter to help them stretch their lead to double digits. De’Anthony took advantage of open looks from behind the arc and scorched the nets with an 8-of-12 night from downtown. His above-the-break triple in the final minute of regulation made it an eight-point game and should have served as the night’s dagger if not for the Sixers then stabbing themselves with that very same dagger in the final 30 seconds. Defensively, Melton was phenomenal, causing chaos wherever he went, picking pockets and jumping passing lanes to kick start transition opportunities. Eight threes and seven steals is a 3-and-D fever dream! The offseason trade to get this guy just keeps looking better and better.

James Harden: 28 points, 4 rebounds, 12 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 5 turnovers

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After looking rusty with his shot in his return on Monday, Harden had a more promising outing against the Lakers, shooting 9-of-19 from the field, including 3-of-8 from behind the arc. James was much more successful with his pull-up game in the mid-range and driving to the interior, and looked smooth on a couple of his shot from long distance. Although he was as much to blame as anyway for the late collapse with a couple bad turnovers, Harden made up for it by scoring nine of the team’s 13 points in overtime.