The Los Angeles Lakers hit a new low as they were demolished 133-96 by the Denver Nuggets in their heaviest defeat of the NBA season.
And over in the Eastern Conference, Joel Embiid and Philadelphia 76ers continue to gain ground on the top four seeds with another win, while the Brooklyn Nets suffered another setback just as they got their Big 3 together for the first time all season.
Read on below as SBOTOP shares its three key takeaways from the latest round of NBA games.
Struggling Lakers can’t get AD back soon enough
The Los Angeles Lakers suffered their heaviest loss of the season as they were thumped 133-96 by the Denver Nuggets.
Reigning MVP Nikola Jokic had a triple-double with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists to lead the Nuggets, while Bones Hyland and Jeff Green added 27 and 26 points, respectively.
As for the Lakers, LeBron James had 25 points in a losing effort, but he shot just 9-of-23 from the field. After going on a four-game win streak on the back of James’ great play, the Lakers have now lost their last three games to drop to 21-22, which is good for seventh in the Western Conference.
There is some good NBA 2022 news for the Lakers, though. Anthony Davis is closing in on his return, with optimism that he could possibly come back at the end of the month.
Based on their run of poor performances, the Lakers can’t get Davis back soon enough. He remains so crucial to their success on both ends of the court, and they don’t stand much chance of making noise in the postseason without him.
But the Lakers had their problems even when Davis was healthy, so they must find some solutions during the second half of the season.
Embiid continues to power Sixers surge
Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers just continue to roll. They beat the Miami Heat 109-98, their ninth win in the last 10 games.
Embiid had 32 points and 12 rebounds, while Tobias Harris and Seth Curry added 22 and 21 points, respectively.
The Sixers are now fifth in the East at 25-17, 2.5 games back of the top seed.
Head coach Doc Rivers is doing another terrific job guiding the team through the regular season despite the absence of All-Star point guard Ben Simmons.
Embiid’s resurgence has also been instrumental to their recent hot streak. The big man is averaging 31 points and 10 rebounds over his last 10 games.
Embiid doesn’t believe there’s a pressing need for Philly to make any big moves, and by the way they’ve been playing of late, he might be right.
“When I look at where we are when we got most of the team in the lineup, especially me in the lineup, then we are 21 and 9. That’s not bad. That’s up there with the best records in the NBA. So, all that tells me is that we just got to stay healthy, keep doing what we’ve been doing.
“I feel pretty good, and I don’t think we’ve played our best basketball yet. We still got a long way to go. We’re missing guys here and there that could really help us. There’s really no urgency to change anything. I think we got everything we need. We’re gonna keep on going and I’m happy.”
While the Sixers are doing well at the moment, they still need to upgrade their team to achieve any postseason success. And with the trade deadline closing in, dealing away the disgruntled Ben Simmons could significantly boost their NBA 2022 odds of winning the title.
Until then, though, the Sixers should continue to be quite competitive in the East standings as long as Embiid is healthy and playing in the form he’s been in at the moment.
Nets suffer new setback with KD injury
Just when things were finally looking better for the Brooklyn Nets, they suffer another setback in the form of Kevin Durant’s sprained knee.
Durant suffered the injury in the Nets’ 120-105 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Nets prevailed despite Durant’s absence thanks to 27 points and 15 assists from James Harden, with 21 points from Patty Mills and 20 from rookie Cam Thomas.
Durant went down just as the Nets’ vaunted Big 3 of KD, Harden, and Kyrie Irving was finally back playing together for the first time this season. And now, they will have to wait a while longer to get Durant back healthy.
The Nets face quite a battle to maintain a top-five seed in the Eastern Conference. They are currently in second at 27-15, but the Heat, Bucks, and 76ers are not too far behind. Irving’s return – for road games at least – comes at the right time as it will help them reduce the impact of Durant’s injury in the meantime.
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