Player grades: Joel Embiid dominates, leads Sixers past Lakers at home

PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers returned home on Friday to kick off a 7-game homestand and they needed a win to move back in the right direction following a miserable 0-3 road trip. The Los Angeles Lakers and their star-studded lineup offered a tough challenge at home.

For Philadelphia’s sake, they received a heavy dose of Joel Embiid early and often in order to walk away with a 133-122 win in overtime, in a game that should not have gone to an extra session, and put a stop to their 3-game losing skid. Embiid had 38 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists in order to lead the Sixers to this much-needed win to begin this long homestand. Philadelphia blew an 18-point lead they held in the fourth quarter where they committed 10 turnovers.

De’Anthony Melton was huge with a career-high 33 points and a career-high seven steals, Tobias Harris had 14 and eight rebounds, James Harden had 28 and 12 assists, and Matisse Thybulle added nine off the bench.

Here are the player grades following the win:

James Harden: B-

When Embiid went to the bench in the second quarter, it would have been nice to see Harden take over a bit more offensively with his scoring. He had a few good looks that he normally makes, but he wasn’t able to convert which led to the struggles Philadelphia had without the big fella. Toward the end of the second quarter, The Beard started cooking with a couple of triples including a move on Dennis Schroder where he drilled a 3 while being fouled. Overall, Harden had a nice night being able to get his teammates involved. The turnovers in the fourth quarter were ugly, though.

De'Anthony Melton: A+

The defensive stopper made two 3s late in the second quarter to help the Sixers regain their footing after the disastrous start to that quarter. Melton also had a few nice moments defensively as he came up with some steals in order to get the Sixers moving in the right direction. Overall, his 3-point shooting was absolutely terrific in this one and he was great on both ends of the floor.

Tobias Harris: B+

It was a slow start for Harris offensively as he missed his first three shots, but he then got going with an offensive tip-in. He was helpful offensively and he was big on the glass which the Sixers will always take these days. It was another night where Harris continued to produce on a consistent level.

PJ Tucker: B-

This was a tough matchup for Tucker as he was tasked with defending Anthony Davis and, of course, Tucker struggled a bit on the glass against him, but overall, he made Davis work for everything he got. He also caused the Lakers to commit a few turnovers. However, offensively, he isn’t even looking to be a threat at times. He passed up a few open triples and the Sixers can’t have that at all.

Joel Embiid: A+

The big fella seemed to take his matchup with Davis personally as he scored Philadelphia’s first six points and he drew two fouls on The Brow. That allowed him to dominate in the paint. Once Davis then picked up a third foul in the opening quarter, the Lakers had to turn to Thomas Bryant and Embiid went to work against him as well. He ended up scoring 20 points in the opening quarter, matching the Lakers as a team, and he set the tone from the jump. After that, he played a controlled game and he kept the Lakers at bay.

Matisse Thybulle: A

Thybulle immediately entered and he made an impact with his offense of all things. He had a nice drive to the hoop that he finished and he then had two more buckets just off of ball movement. The Sixers always want him cutting more off the ball and it led to easy buckets for him. He also made a 3 in the second half so it was a great game for him.

Shake Milton: B-

It seemed as if Milton just wasn’t as aggressive in this one. He was settling for jumpers rather than using his strength and length to get to the rim and finish. He has the ability to be a double-digit scorer even off the bench so he has to find his rhythm again. He had success as a driver in the second half of this one.

Furkan Korkmaz: C-

The veteran out of Turkey scored rather quickly, but after that, he struggled defensively and he couldn’t get a bucket over the length of Davis when he was driving into the paint. Los Angeles has a lot of athletic guards which makes it tough for Korkmaz to keep up.

Paul Reed: F

It was a disastrous start for Reed as he was a minus-12 in four minutes in his initial stint. He also picked up three fouls so he couldn’t be his usual energetic self and the Lakers took advantage of him out there. Philadelphia had to quickly get Embiid back out there. He didn’t play in the second half.

Montrezl Harrell: Incomplete

Harrell got some backup minutes to begin the fourth quarter and he just played three minutes to get Embiid some rest of the stretch run in this one. He picked up two fouls and grabbed a rebound.

Story originally appeared on Sixers Wire