Philadelphia also ended a 28-game losing streak, longest in the history of the four major North American sports.
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The Sixers won for the first time since March 25, 2015.
But James said it still nagged at him that he had never managed to face Bryant and the Lakers in the NBA Finals.
For one night, in front of a sellout crowd of 20,510 that came to cheer Bryant, the streaks hardly mattered.
“I’m pleased for the city”, Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said. “So we are trying to keep this winning streak rolling”. With 1:46 left, Randle wrested a Bryant miss, giving the Lakers an extra possession that led to a pair of free throws for Jordan Clarkson, giving the Lakers a 98-95 edge.
After the game, Byron Scott, who has been one of Kobe’s biggest supporters through his rough season, said he wasn’t surprised by the heroics. It was emotional. I’m deeply appreciative. “It was really, really special”.
He buried a step-back 3-pointer off the opening tip. Bryant says the decision to call it quits actually began after he tore his Achilles in 2013. “But once that didn’t happen, my childhood ambitions of being a Los Angeles Laker was actual reality … once I became a Laker I was never going to look back”.
“I’m just sitting there playing possum because I knew my legs ain’t going to carry this energy for 48 minutes”, Bryant said.
Congratulations Philly fans, you are officially off the schnide… “The layers around Jahlil have been solid”, Brown said.
From that moment, though, the Sixers stepped on the throttle and pushed their lead to 14 points with 7:20 to go in the game.
At the end of the second quarter: 57-51 lead in favor of the Lakers.
The 76ers defeated the Lakers 103 to 91 on the strength of Robert Covington’s 23 points and Nerlens Noel’s 14 points and nine rebounds off the bench.
Jerami Grant rotating over to swat Kobe Bryant’s shot into the third row could have been the highlight of the game. The night belonged to Bryant. He waved to the crowd and bowed his head in appreciation as a “Kobe!”
There is a high level of excitement at the Wells Fargo Center. Sixers legend Julius Erving was in the house as well. Grant and Sampson also were hit with technical fouls.
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He was accorded a standing ovation when he took the court for warmups and again when he was introduced. The Lakers opened an eight-game road trip. Kobe was and is an all-time National Basketball Association great, but his game is gone and its really, really obvious. The three-time NBA MVP, who helped lead the franchise to the 1983 NBA title, died at age 60 on September 13 from cardiovascular disease. At the conclusion, Moses Malone Jr. announced that Sixers will retire his father’s No. 2 jersey next year.
