Sports Illustrated, Associated Press
February 26th,
Since the blockbuster deal the 76ers and Nets pulled off that sent star James Harden to Philadelphia, the anticipation for Harden’s debut and to play alongside current MVP candidate Joel Embiid was astronomical. Safe to say last night versus the Minnesota Timberwolves, Harden’s debut was no less than stellar, with a statline of 27-8-12 shooting it 58% from the field, the 76ers completely dominated this game enroute to a 133-102 win. There were questions on how this was going to work between Harden and Embiid as they were both ball dominant type players, but it’s obvious that the two have worked on this and seem to already have mid-season chemistry in just one game. Embiid himself had another MVP-type performance dropping 34 and 10. The best thing to me about this performance was the contribution from Tyrese Maxey who logged 28 points and 4 steals, as it was crucial for a 3rd and even 4th guy to step up in order for this to work. I’m excited to see Maxey being more off-ball as I’ve felt since he got drafted that’s where he’s best at. If last night’s game is any indication that this is what we’re going to get from Philly on a night in-night out basis then buckle up.
Going into this game between the Lakers and Clippers, there were already a lot of chatter with this Lakers franchise after the reports and things said by Lebron during All-Star Weekend, including his future with the Lakers, front office drama, roster construction and more. What the Lakers absolutely did not need was to lose it’s 6th straight against its rivals of the Clippers, but they couldn’t overcome the deficit they put themselves in early, being down 16 in the first half. The Lakers had multiple chances to win or tie the game in the final minute including a Westbrook missed layup, Camelo Anthony missed three, and a Lebron missed three in the corner. On the Clippers half, it was a solid team contribution from multiple guys as they get a win to help them separate some ground between them and the Lakers for the 8th and 9th spot, which is the difference between playing in just 1 play-in game and having to play 2 play-in games in order to make the playoffs.
There were two thrilling overtime games including a double-overtime game against the Spurs and Wizards. Dejounte Murray notched his 12th triple double of the season coming off his All-Star game appearance, with 31-14-13 and made some crucial plays to propel the Spurs past the Wizards in a 157-153 win. Keldon Johnson also had himself a night, dropping a career-high 32 points in the win. The Spurs got even more contribution from the likes of a near triple double from Jakob Poeltl (28-11-8) and Lonnie Walker registering 23 points. The Spurs are now just a game behind the Trailblazers for a play-in spot. In the other overtime game featuring plenty of young talent, a few young stars showed out in the Thunder-Pacers game, including 36 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in a 129-125 win over the Pacers. Tre Mann continued to display why he’s showtime, dropping 22 points himself and hitting clutch buckets down the stretch for the backcourt of OKC. On the Pacers side, Buddy Hield has 29 points with 5 made threes and Lance Stephenson hit a huge three to tie the game late in regulation. The young guys like Haliburton, Isaiah Jackson, and Jalen Smith continued to make the best out of their opportunities.
The Hornets got a dominating and much needed win over the Raptors as they were 1-9 in there last 10 coming into this game. The Hornets controlled the game from start to finish, winning 125-93 and getting greatly needed contributions from Rozier, Oubre Jr, and Harrell. The two stars for the Raptors in Siakam and VanVleet struggled mightily, combining for just 6/25 (24%) from the field, as only two Raptors (Barnes, Trent Jr) scored in double figures. RJ Barrett had a career night putting up 46 points on 59% shooting, but was still scorched by the Heat as they went on to win 115-100 behind the much needed comeback of Tyler Herro and his bench production. Rockets-Magic was a game just filled with even more young talent as the No.2 overall pick Jalen Green is really starting to come into his own and score the ball at a consistent rate finishing with 23 points on 50% and a career-high 4 steals. The Magic were able to hold off the Rockets and get a 119-111 win behind the likes of Wendell Carter and Chuma Okeke off the bench, combining for 50 points and 21 rebounds. The Pelicans stunned the Suns at home with the duo of CJ Mccollum and Brandon Ingram handing out a combined 60 points in the 117-102 win. They're now tied with the Spurs and are also a game behind from a play-in spot. The Jazz got timely defensive stops in the clutch against the Mavs widening the space between the 4th and 5th seed between the two foes by two and a half games in a 114-109 win. The Jazz saw Donovan Mitchell put up 33 and get massive defensive possessions from Rudy Gobert on Doncic, while Bojan Bogdanovic hit a 3 late to seal the deal.
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