Cameroonian big man Joel Embiid scored 31 points as the Sixers ran roughshod over the league’s top-rated defense. Leonard scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, and Patrick Beverley produced a key block of James’s potential game-tying three-pointer with 3.6 seconds to play. Kyle Kuzma led the Lakers with 25 points while James finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists in his team’s fourth straight defeat. Despite the breathless buildup to the “Battle of Los Angeles”, Leonard scoffed at the idea that city bragging rights mattered. Harden, averaging 38.6 points per game, had just 24 in the face of the Warriors’ determined, disciplined defense.

Source: The Guardian December 26, 2019 05:15 UTC