LeBron James suffers worst defeat in NBA career as Lakers lose by 44 points vs. Sixers

LeBron James has lost big in the past, but never like this Monday’s 138-94 defeat against Philadelphia. Once he and the Lakers lost to the Pacers by 42 points in 2019, or by 36 in the NBA Finals with the Heat, but never by 44 points.

His rival Joel Embiid led the charge from the Sixers side, as he recorded the sixth triple-double of his career, finishing with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. The reigning league MVP accomplished his first of the campaign and his seventh career game with 10+ assists.

This loss marked the franchises worst-ever against the 76ers after 290 games between them. Also, the Los Angeles squad hasn’t been able to win against them in their last seven contests. “That’s my favorite team,” Joel claimed. “Any time I play against them, you want to get the win. But I do it every night anyways against every other team.”

This humiliation couldn’t have come at a worse time, as this November 27 marked the day that LeBron became the all-time player with most NBA minutes. But it just wasn’t the night for him, as he scored 18 points but didn’t even win a single rebound throughout the match.

When asked, he gave little importance to this new milestone which used to be in the hands of legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. “That doesn’t mean much to me,” James said.

What was the secret behind Philly’s success? Everyone seems to agree they were lethal from beyond the arc. The Sixers hit three-pointers 22 times, while the Lakers only dropped in seven. “We got killed on the 3-point line,” the King admitted. “They made shots. Give them credit.”

Coach Darvin Ham delivered a similar sentiment to the press. “Your competitive spirit has to be at a high level,” he said postgame. “It almost has to be bulletproof to a certain degree. You have to meet force with force. They outhustled us.”

Sixers coach Nick Nurse also believed that opening the contest with 13 three-pointers in the first half, a season high for them, was the essence of their blowout win.

“You certainly don’t go into a game like this expecting that kind of game to break out,” he explained. “When the 3 ball starts going in the way they did early, I think that just energizes everybody.”

76ers forward Paul Reed called Anthony Davis “a big flopper” after the LA center’s poor display

Even though Anthony Davis had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, he constantly seemed dominated by his opponents. Once the game was done, Paul Reed called him “a big flopper” and anticipated his poor exhibition when he said: “You know, he’s gonna be flailing.”

During the postgame interviews, both coaches were impressed to see a backup player poking the eight-time All-Star. “Go guard him, I guess. Best of luck, Paul,” Ham said for next time.

“He’s a big flopper so make sure I don’t get in foul trouble early by any—I can’t be too aggressive with him. He’s gonna be flailing so I gotta make sure I stay out of foul trouble.” 😳

– Paul Reed on defending Anthony Davis

(Via @Ky_Carlin) pic.twitter.com/WXDysT9ff8

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) November 27, 2023

LeBron, on the other hand, offered some advice for his co-star as the team desperately needs him at his best. He believes Davis had a great game. “AD was big time tonight for us,” he said.

“Yeah I mean we expect a lot from AD. We want him to be aggressive offensively and at the same time anchor our defense. Tonight was an AD game. Defensively they have those trees in Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, and I thought AD did a great job attacking, and at the same time trying to defend and cover the glass when those guards are getting into the paint, trying to change shots at the rim and get blocked shots, and trying to clean the glass at the same time,” James said.