76ERS LOOK LIKE REAL DEAL
Dallas wins after being down 15 in fourth quarter to Portland
Philadelphia posts second straight win since acquiring Tobias Harris, a 143-120 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
PHILADELPHIA — Magic Johnson and LeBron James have captured eight NBA titles between them. With Johnson in the stands and James on the court, the Philadelphia 76ers showed off their own championship potential.
Joel Embiid had 37 points and 14 rebounds, Tobias Harris scored 22 points in his second game with Philadelphia, and the new-look 76ers beat James and the Los Angeles Lakers 143-120 on Sunday.
JJ Redick added 21 points for the Sixers, who have won two straight after acquiring Harris and four others at Thursday’s trade deadline. Jimmy Butler finished with 15 points in front of a packed Philly crowd that brought a playoff-like feel to the nationally televised game.
Kyle Kuzma led the Lakers with 39 points while James had 18 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
Fresh off a buzzer-beating win at Boston, the Lakers shot nearly 60 percent and scored 40 points in the first quarter. But fueled by Redick’s four-point play, the Sixers closed the first half on a 19-6 run to take a 76-67 lead into halftime.
Embiid, who was questionable to play because of gastroenteritis, led the charge with 25 points in the first half after lighting up the Lakers for 28 in the teams’ first matchup.
WARRIORS 120, HEAT 118: In Oakland, Calif., Kevin Durant scored 39 points and DeMarcus Cousins made two free throws with 5.4 seconds to play that helped Golden State come back from a 19-point deficit to beat Miami.
Cousins rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Durant and drew a foul, setting the stage for his winning free throws that gave the Warriors their 11th doubledigit comeback of the season, and second straight after rallying from 17 points down Friday in Phoenix.
Miami overcame an eightpoint deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game on a 3-pointer by Justise Winslow. Josh Richardson and Dwyane Wade then had back-to-back steals and layups to put the Heat up 118-115 with 51.5 seconds to play.
Durant then tied it with a 3-pointer and Cousins made his big shots after both teams missed from long range to give the Warriors their 15th win in 16 games.
MAVERICKS 102, TRAIL
BLAZERS 101: In Dallas, Luka Doncic scored 13 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 24 and the Mavericks erased a 15-point deficit in the final 10 minutes in a victory over playoff-contending Portland.
Damian Lillard scored 21 of his 30 points in the last half of the third quarter to help the Blazers build a lead that grew to 96-81 early in the fourth.
Lillard made eight straight shots and in one stretch scored 16 straight Portland points in the third, but the All-Star guard missed his last four attempts as the Blazers went 10:10 without a field goal in a nine-point fourth quarter.
KINGS 117, SUNS 104: In Sacramento, Marvin Bagley III had another strong game off the bench with a careerhigh 32 points, as Sacramento handed Phoenix its 14th straight loss.
The Kings inched closer to ending the longest current playoff drought in the NBA. Sacramento, which last made the postseason in 2005-06, pulled within a half-game of the L.A. Clippers for the final playoff spot in the West.
MAGIC 124, HAWKS 108: In Atlanta, Nikola Vucevic, who will be making his first All-Star Game appearance next weekend in Charlotte, scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Orlando.
Despite getting into Atlanta around 2:40 a.m. after a 20-point victory at East-leading Milwaukee the previous night, Orlando looked like the fresher team. The last time the Magic pulled off road wins on consecutive nights was April 3-4, 2014.