The Sixers have only played one game since I last blogged, and it was a home matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers, who are in first place in the Western Conference and have the second-best record in the entire league. Led by superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers have one of the strongest lineups in the NBA right now. Philadelphia knew going into the game that it would be a tough matchup, but a winnable one if everyone stepped up and played to their full potential.
In front of a sold out Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA, the Sixers did not disappoint. Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons led the team with 29 and 28 points respectively, helped out by 16 additional points from Al Horford and another 22 points coming from different players off the bench. As the clock reached 0, the Sixers had put up a grand total of 109 points, the fifth game out of the last six that they scored triple digits. Ben Simmons added 10 rebounds to the stat line, while Shake Milton grabbed another 9 rebounds. The balance between scorers and the ability for different bench players to step up and perform when their name was called is what I believe was the difference in this game. On the other side of the ball, Anthony Davis and LeBron James scored a majority of the points, combining for 60 of the 91 points for Los Angeles. Both stars had 7 rebounds each and attempted to carry their team to a win; however, it was not quite enough.
Despite the loss, LeBron James was able to make history Saturday night in Philadelphia, passing Kobe Bryant for third on the all-time scoring list in NBA history. With a tribute written to Kobe on his shoes, a mid-third quarter layup put him at 33,644 career points. Moving his way up in the record books, James continues to construct and build his legacy; next up on the list is Karl Malone, a power forward who played 18 seasons with the Utah Jazz and scored 36,928 points in total.
However, despite the importance of record books and numerical stats, the NBA community received some shocking news on Sunday afternoon; Kobe Bryant, one of the most notable players of the last 20 years and among the debate for one of the greatest players of all time, passed away after a horrific helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. With him in the helicopter was his daughter Gianna, as well as six other family friends; nobody survived the crash. A heart-breaking occurrence, Bryant will be missed greatly, known not only as a star on the court, but also a motivator and overall inspiration off it. More details continue to surface as time goes on, and additional investigations will provide more insight into what exactly happened in that helicopter.
As the NBA attempts to get back to some sense of normalcy after this shocking news, the Sixers tip off against the Golden State Warriors tonight in Philadelphia, followed by a trip to Atlanta to take on the Hawks on Thursday evening. As time goes on, these games become more and more crucial for the Sixers; let’s see how Philadelphia does as they finish out January!