Lakers vs. 76ers: Score, Highlights and Reaction from 2015 Regular Season
The longest stretch of futility in modern sports history is over.
Behind 23 points from Robert Covington and an all-around strong performance from Jerami Grant, the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 103-91 on Tuesday night to end their 28-game losing streak.
Michael Levin of Liberty Ballers contextualized the win properly:
The Sixers opened the NBA's regular season with 18 straight losses, tying a record, and their 28-game streak dating back to last season was the most consecutive losses in any of the United States' four major professional sports. By winning, they avoided besting the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets, who set the mark of 18 straight losses to open a season.
The game also doubled as Kobe Bryant's final appearance in his hometown as an active player. Bryant, who played high school ball at Lower Merion, arrived to a raucous pregame ovation and special introduction. The Sixers PA announcer gave Bryant the full treatment, complete with the lights going out in the arena before the crowd burst into a "Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!" chant.
That scene also continued after the game, according to ESPN's Arash Markazi:
"Really appreciative and really thankful for everyone," Bryant said prior to the game, per Scott Cacciola of the New York Times. "Those who supported and those who didn't. It was all just part of the entire journey."
Early on, it appeared as though Bryant would turn in his first vintage game of the 2015-16 season. The 37-year-old scored L.A.'s first 11 points, even doing so in a relatively efficient fashion.
However, as has been the case all too often this season, things quickly fell apart. Bryant finished the game with 20 points on 7-of-26 shooting. After the first quarter, he was 2-of-16 and missed all but one of his 10 three-point attempts.
It was par for the course for the aging legend, who has yet to make at least half of his shots in a game this season. The 17 attempts from distance set a season high and were his most since shooting that many in a game more than seven years ago.
Unsurprisingly, it was not a formula conducive to efficient basketball. The Lakers shot 37.1 percent from the floor and hit on eight of their 34 attempts from three. Jordan Clarkson helped things along a bit with 19 points, but Roy Hibbert and Brandon Bass were the only Lakers players who hit at least half of their shots.
Comedian Hannibal Buress chimed in:
The loss marks seven straight for Los Angeles, which is on pace to set a franchise record for losses for the third straight season. At 2-15, the Lakers have a two-game edge over the New Orleans Pelicans for the NBA's second-worst record. Only Philly (1-18) is worse, and given the way things went Tuesday night, it's hard to say the Lakers are better than even the Sixers.
Philadelphia, in the midst of the biggest full-scale rebuild in professional sports history, received some promising production from its young players.
Covington knocked down five three-pointers and filled the stat sheet with five rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Grant did the same, scoring 14 points and adding seven rebounds, four assists, four blocks and a steal. ESPN's Kevin Pelton highlighted Covington's impact on this year's Sixers squad:
Nerlens Noel (14 points), Jahlil Okafor (12), Isaiah Canaan (12) and Hollis Thompson (12) also scored in double figures for the Sixers. Overall, Philadelphia shot a solid 46.8 percent from the field and made 14 of its 32 three-pointers. The team has knocked down 42 threes over its last three games.
The NBA's most turnover-prone team also continued to slow down its mistakes with 15 turnovers, down nearly four from its regular-season average. While far from perfect, the Sixers are at least starting to resemble a professional basketball team after a month of laughable play.
Or it just could be that they played the Lakers. Either way, the streak has finally ended. Now Philly fans will cross their fingers another doesn't begin anytime soon.
Postgame Reaction
Bryant spoke on the reaction from fans, per Tom Moore of the Intelligencer: "They got me. I wasn't expecting that kind of reaction. It was emotional. You can't script that stuff. The amount of adoration I have for this city means everything to me."
Moore also provided a number of other choice quotes from Bryant:
Sixers coach Brett Brown spoke on the Sixers' victory: "Obviously, this is a relief. We didn't want this streak continuing."
"Nobody's pitying himself here," Brown continued. "We haven't blinked and reacted to the obvious. We worked. I see daylight. I see talent."
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