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Tim BontempsESPN
PHILADELPHIA — Shortly after the 76ers were eliminated in a 133-122 overtime win over the Lakers, coach Doc Rivers sat down in his chair before the press conference to discuss how his night was going. Expanded or summed up.
“I was planning on starting about 15 minutes ago,” Rivers said with a smile.
Almost everyone inside the Wells Fargo Center did on Friday night when Joel Embiid split two free throws to make it 119-110 with 34.8 seconds remaining.
But from there on, a string of mistakes saw the Lakers not only get back into the game, but a chance to win in regulation.
The Sixers had three turnovers in 21.6 seconds and split two free throws to give life to their opponents.
When asked what was going through his mind during Philadelphia’s fourth-quarter collapse, Embiid, who scored 38 points and rebounded 12 in 46 minutes, said, “Honestly, what the hell was going on?” “I’m just trying to understand why I should not be in that position. But I’m glad I got another chance, so I ended up working overtime.”
While Philadelphia did its part to give Los Angeles a chance, the Lakers helped their cause with a layup from Patrick Beverly, two free throws from Anthony Davis and a 3-pointer from Austin Reeves. I did a lot for 120-117 with 10.5 seconds remaining.
At that point, Reeves was fouled by Mathis Thybulle on a 3-pointer with 9.2 seconds remaining, sending him to the free-throw line for the second year and getting a chance to tie. However, Reeves missed his third free throw after making his two free throws in his first. In the ensuing scrum for the ball, LeBron James had the last touch of the ball, giving Philadelphia the possession with 5.5 seconds to go and a chance to finally make it inbounds.
Instead, Tobias Harris hit a pass in the air toward Embiid, but the ball bounced off Embiid’s face.
The ball fell into Davis’ hands and performed a give-and-go with Russell Westbrook before Harris fouled him with 3.7 seconds remaining.
But with a chance to put the Lakers up by one and Philadelphia with no timeouts left, they were on the verge of securing a truly unlikely victory, but Davis missed his second free throw, giving the 76ers a new run. It came to life and instead sent the game into overtime.
“It definitely hurts,” said Davis, who scored 31 points (25 of them after halftime). 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in 36 minutes.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself to make free throws, especially in those situations. I’m still shocked that I missed it.”
As dramatic as the end-game sequence was, it made the overtime pretty defiant. They knew their direction and outscored Los Angeles 13-2 in the extra session. team in overtime (3-for-4, plus his perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line).
“Honestly, it’s probably just a disappointment that I blew it [lead] When asked how he and his teammates got on track, Harris said.
“We knew we had to do everything we could to win from here.”
A bizarre collapse in the final moments overshadowed what the game of guard Deanthony Melton’s career was.
“Honestly, my teammates were just spotting me,” Melton said. “Some of those paths are the way they went through, I mean, I’m sure they didn’t think they’d go through. But they kept going through, they kept finding me, they kept me open. I kept shooting with confidence.”
The 76ers managed to pull it off after a dismal performance in the final minutes of Monday’s loss to the Rockets in Houston, combined with their weaknesses late in the game, but Rivers said those issues were. He said moving forward would solve the problem.
“All guards, we all have to come on the ball,” Rivers said. I don’t get it. I’ll fix it.”
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin contributed to this report.
