LeBron James Suffers the Worst Loss of His 20-Year NBA Career
LeBron James never endured a lopsided basketball defeat like the one he suffered with Los Angeles in Philadelphia.
James has lost big before. His Miami Heat once got trounced by 36 points in the NBA Finals. The Indiana Pacers beat James and the Lakers by 42 in 2019.
But this blowout was an all-timer: By the time Joel Embiid clinched a triple-double in the third quarter, the 76ers were on their way to a 138-94 win over the Lakers on Monday night — the 44-point loss now the worst in James’ career that dates to 2003.
“What needs to change in order for that to not happen again? A lot,” James said, without elaboration.
The miserable milestones piled up for the Lakers. It was their worst loss to the 76ers in their 290 games series.
It was so bad, James didn’t even grab a rebound.
OK, one more: The 76ers beat the Lakers for the seventh straight time.
“That’s my favorite team,” Embiid said, noting he learned of basketball through Kobe Bryant. “Any time I play against them, you want to get the win. But I do it every night anyways against every other team.”
The box score tells part of the story. The 76ers hit 22 3-pointers to just seven for the Lakers, and even when Embiid sat out the entire fourth quarter, the 76ers still outscored them 40-14.
“We got killed on the 3-point line,” James said. “They made shots. Give them credit.”
The rest? It was just a lethargic effort from a team that seemed resigned early — the 76ers led by 25 in the first half.
“Your competitive spirit has to be at a high level,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “It almost has to be bulletproof to a certain degree. You have to meet force with force. They outhustled us.”
The reigning NBA MVP, Embiid finished with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his sixth career triple-double. It was Embiid’s first of the season and his seventh career game with 10-plus assists.
Embiid’s anticipated showdown with James never really materialized. James scored 18 points in 29 minutes, but nothing he did could make a dent in the 76ers’ lead. He has now played more minutes than any player in NBA history, with playoff time included.
“That doesn’t mean much to me,” James said.
“You certainly don’t go into a game like this expecting that kind of game to break out,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “When the 3 ball starts going in the way they did early, I think that just energizes everybody.”
The 76ers put their 12th win away early, winning their second straight after a two-game losing streak and could have Kelly Oubre Jr. back soon. Oubre averaged 16.3 points in eight games before he was injured in an alleged hit-and-run accident. He participated in shootaround and may join the 76ers on their upcoming two-game road trip.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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