76ers collapse late, but 'glad' to top Lakers in OT

PHILADELPHIA -- Shortly aft his Philadelphia 76ers escaped with a 133-122 overtime triumph implicit the Los Angeles Lakers, Sixers manager Doc Rivers eased into a seat into the property league country and, earlier helium could reply a question, summed up however his nighttime played out.

"I thought we would commencement this astir 15 minutes ago," Rivers said with a smile.

So did virtually everyone wrong Wells Fargo Center present Friday nighttime erstwhile Joel Embiid divided a brace of escaped throws to marque it 119-110 with 34.8 seconds to spell successful regulation.

From there, however, a drama of errors allowed the Lakers to not lone get backmost into the crippled -- but adjacent person a accidental to triumph it successful regulation.

The Sixers committed 3 turnovers successful the span of 21.6 seconds, arsenic good arsenic divided a brace of escaped throws, to springiness their opponents beingness they ne'er should've had.

"Just trying to fig retired what the hellhole was going on, honestly," said Embiid, who had 38 points and 12 rebounds successful 46 minutes, erstwhile asked what was going done his caput during Philadelphia's 4th fourth collapse. "It should person ne'er been successful that position. But I'm gladsome we got different accidental astatine it, and we went to overtime and closed it out."

While Philadelphia was doing its portion to springiness Los Angeles a chance, the Lakers did plentifulness to assistance their ain cause, getting a layup from Patrick Beverley, a brace of escaped throws from Anthony Davis and a 3-pointer from Austin Reaves to propulsion to wrong 120-117 with 10.5 seconds to go.

At that point, Reaves was fouled by Matisse Thybulle connected a 3-pointer with 9.2 seconds to go, sending the second-year guardant to the escaped propulsion enactment with a accidental to necktie the game. But aft Reaves made the archetypal 2 escaped throws, helium missed the third. In the ensuing rugby scrum for the ball, it coiled up being past touched by LeBron James -- giving Philadelphia the shot backmost with 5.5 seconds to spell and a accidental to, finally, get the shot inbounds successfully.

Instead, Tobias Harris lofted a walk up successful the aerial toward Embiid aft helium had obscurity to spell with the shot -- lone for it to deed Embiid successful the look and bounce away.

The shot coiled up successful Davis' hands, who past executed a give-and-go with Russell Westbrook earlier Harris fouled him with 3.7 seconds to go.

But with a accidental to enactment the Lakers up 1 -- and connected the verge of securing a genuinely improbable win, fixed Philadelphia had nary timeouts near -- Davis missed the 2nd escaped throw, allowing the 76ers caller beingness and sending the crippled to overtime instead.

"It hurts for sure," said Davis, who finished with 31 points -- 25 of which came aft halftime -- 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks successful 36 minutes.. "Especially erstwhile you marque the archetypal one.

"I enactment a batch of unit connected myself to marque escaped throws, particularly successful that benignant of situation. I'm inactive benignant of shocked that I missed it."

For arsenic melodramatic arsenic the end-of-game series was, the overtime play coiled up being alternatively anticlimactic. Rather than continuing their descent into madness successful the other session, Philadelphia instantly got its bearings, outscoring Los Angeles 13-2 successful the other session, arsenic Westbrook missed much shots by himself (going 0-for-5) than the 76ers took arsenic a squad successful the overtime play (going 3-for-4, positive a cleanable 7-for-7 from the escaped propulsion line).

"Honestly, astir apt conscionable the disappointment for blowing that [lead] and allowing it to get that close," Harris said, erstwhile asked however helium and his teammates got backmost connected track.

"We knew we needed to bash thing imaginable to travel retired of present with a victory."

The bizarre illness successful the last moments overshadowed what was the crippled of the vocation of defender De'Anthony Melton, who finished with 33 points connected 11-for-16 shooting overall, including 8-for-12 shooting, to spell on with 7 steals.

"Honestly, my teammates was conscionable uncovering me," Melton said. "Some of those passes, the mode they got through, I mean, I'm beauteous definite they didn't deliberation they were going to get through. But they kept getting through, they kept uncovering me, and they kept leaving maine unfastened truthful I kept shooting it, and shooting it with confidence."

Even though the 76ers managed to, aft a disastrous show successful the closing moments of Monday's nonaccomplishment successful Houston to the lowly Rockets, coupled with their foibles precocious successful this one, Rivers said that those issues are going to beryllium sorted retired moving forward.

"All our guards, we each person to travel to the ball," Rivers said. "We person to get open. We person to play done fouls astatine the extremity of the crippled ... it can't happen. We'll hole that."

ESPN's Dave McMenamin contributed to this report.