Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris lead 76ers past Lakers, 105-87

A year ago Wednesday, the 76ers used that night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers as a barometer to see where they stood.

Things were much different in Thursday night’s meeting, as both teams were battling injuries and looking to get into a groove.

Fortunately for the Sixers, Joel Embiid was healthy and Tobias Harris was able to play. Embiid finished with 26 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists and Harris added 23 points to lead the Sixers to 105-87 victory at the Wells Fargo Center. This win came after Embiid was named an Eastern Conference All-Star starter for the fifth consecutive season.

The Lakers were without LeBron James after he woke up with left knee soreness. Meanwhile, this was Anthony Davis’ second game back after missing 17 with a left knee MCL sprain. Davis, however, was far from rusty, finishing with game highs of 31 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers (24-25).

The Sixers (29-19) welcomed back Danny Green, who had missed the last seven games with scar tissue breakage in his right hip. However, they were still without Seth Curry (left ankle soreness) and Shake Milton (back spasms).

Still, the Sixers had four double-digit scorers while posting 30 assists on 41 made shots. Tyrese Maxey recorded his first double-double with 14 points and 10 assists. Georges Niang also added 14 points. Matisse Thybulle also showed why he’s regarded as one of the league’s best defenders, finishing with four steals to go with one block.

“It was a great win,” Embiid said. “We did it as a team. We moved the ball, and you know we played together. And then defensively we were really good tonight.”

However, there was a negative incident that took away from some of the game’s excitement. A season-ticket holder was kicked out the arena with 7 minutes, 1 second remaining after getting into an altercation with Lakers forward Carmelo Anthony. A league source said the season-ticket holder told Anthony, “Shoot the ball, boy.” After Anthony asked him what he said, the fan repeated “Shoot the ball, boy.”

The belief is that the fan’s season tickets will be revoked after this incident. The fan denied calling Anthony a “boy,” saying he called him a “bum.”

Anthony confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that he was called “boy” and Yahoo Sports reported the fan kept yelling “get in the corner boy” and “keep shooting boy.”

Moments later, another fan was approached by security after getting into an altercation with the 19th-year veteran.

“It is what it is,” Anthony said. “Some things were said, unacceptable. I’m cool with fans heckling, fans talking trash, cheering for their team, booing the other team. I’m all for that. But when you cross certain lines, as a man that’s what you are going to see. That’s what you are going to get as you saw that.

“I’m sure that people in charge will deal with it accordingly.”

» READ MORE: Sixers’ Joel Embiid voted as an NBA All-Star starter for 5th consecutive season

Embiid said after the previous couple of games that he was tired.

He finally played that way on Thursday. The Sixers center, who had been on a dominating scoring stretch, was sluggish against the Lakers.

This contest marked his 21st consecutive game played. It is the second-longest stretch of his career.

“I was not very good tonight,” Embiid said. “So I’m happy that my teammates were able to pick me up and we have the win.”

The Sixers have talked about giving him a day of rest. Saturday’s matchup against the struggling Sacramento Kings would be the perfect time. The Kings (18-32) have lost five straight games and 10 of their last 12. However, Doc Rivers said that they haven’t talked about that yet.

But there have been several occasions when the Sixers wanted to rest him, only to have Embiid force his way into playing.

“We’re all for that,” Rivers said. “I love when players want to play. That’s good for him.”

Anthony got into a dispute, snapping at fans in the fourth quarter after they reportedly yelled “boy.” He had just been fouled by Niang near the mid-court sideline. Anthony turned around and yapped something back at the fan. He was restrained by the players. Then the refs and security rushed over and the fan was escorted out of the arena. Anthony’s next altercation came near the baseline close to the tunnel area across from the Sixers’ bench. Embiid broke up that altercation.

“Unacceptable language, and unacceptable language by fans is the simplest way to put it,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “There’s got to be a higher standard. Hopefully, that’s handled the right way.”

Both of these altercations came after Anthony exchanged words with fans after fouling Embiid in the third quarter.

Harris was cleared to play before the game after missing shootaround because of the non-COVID illness.

But you couldn’t tell that anything bothered him.

The power forward started out hot, scoring seven points in the first quarter on 3-for-3 shooting. He cooled off a little in the second quarter, but regrouped for what turned out to be a dominating performance.

Harris’ points came on 10-for-15 shooting.

» READ MORE: Best and worst from Sixers-Lakers: Matisse Thybulle’s stellar defense, Georges Niang’s clutch threes, classless fan and more

For Green, it was good to be back on the floor.

The 34-year-old finished with nine points and two rebounds in 15:33.

The 13-year veteran has missed a total of 14 games this season due to hip and hamstring injuries. The time away made him cherish his time on the court, especially the big games.

“A lot of guys that were drafted with me are not allowed to play in these games anymore,” said Green, selected 46th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009 draft. “I’ve been very fortunate and blessed to stay a part of this league long enough. You take it for granted early on.

“Now, you realize and cherish and understand what these games are. You see guys that are retired show highlights of guys they played against and these are good memories that you are going to have forever and live on through your kids and grandkids.”

This was Green’s first game since suffering the injury on Jan. 12 against the Charlotte Hornets. He said it took about two weeks for the scar tissue to heal. He’s had the same injury while playing for the San Antonio Spurs.

“Luckily, thank God, it wasn’t anything major. But, yeah, I left a little rip and pop type situation. It wasn’t anything major. It was just scar tissue that was breaking up.”