Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid out-duelled Denver’s two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and the Boston Celtics edged the Los Angeles Lakers 125-121 in overtime as rivalries took centre stage in the NBA on Sunday (AEDT).
The Lakers led by seven midway through the fourth quarter, but Jaylen Brown converted a three-point play to tie it up at 105-105 with 4.1 seconds left.
Watch an average of 9 LIVE NBA Regular Season games per week on ESPN on Kayo Sports on ESPN on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
He went on to score 11 points in the extra session after LeBron James’s drive to the basket at the end of regulation ended in a miss, with James and the Lakers pleading for a foul call after Jayson Tatum appeared to brush his arm.
The call didn’t come and Boston prevailed despite a 41-point performance from James, who was visibly incensed and slammed the court in anger at the referees.
“The best player on Earth can’t get a call — it’s amazing,” said Lakers coach Darvin Ham.
“I don’t understand it,” James said, adding he didn’t think it was the first time a non-call proved costly to the Lakers this season.
Lakers star Anthony Davis was filthy the refs didn’t call a foul on LeBron.
“It’s bullsh*t,” Davis fumed.
“It’s unacceptable and I guarantee nothing will happen to the refs. We got cheated tonight, honestly.”
“As much as we try not to put it on officiating, it’s becoming increasingly difficult,” Ham said.
“It’s unfortunate the game ends on a play like that. You don’t ask for favouritism, you just ask for consistency. That’s it.”
Patrick Beverley was so annoyed he brought out a camera onto the court, appearing to show the missed call to referee Eric Lewis.
Unsurprisingly, Beverley was swiftly given a technical foul for his antics that had the NBA world chuckling.
Every win is crucial now for the Lakers, who are tinkering with their roster in a bid to give an ageing LeBron James the chance to push for a fifth championship.
But it was just one of two wild technical fouls dished out in the NBA on Sunday.
Embiid, who finished runner-up to Jokic in voting for Most Valuable Player honours the past two seasons, poured on 47 points to lead the 76ers to a 126-119 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Embiid also grabbed 18 rebounds to help the Sixers erase a 15-point halftime deficit on the way to a seventh straight victory.
He drained a step-back three-pointer over Jokic that pushed Philadelphia’s lead to 125-117 with 30.1 seconds to play.
But an incident late in the third quarter caught the attention of eagle-eyed fans when Embiid’s 76ers teammate James Harden lost his mind on the bench.
Harden was sitting on Philadelphia’s bench when Denver’s Bones Hyland had the ball in the corner of the court.
Harden got up from his seat and ran onto the court, seemingly in an attempt to trick Hyland into thinking he was another defender and affect a three-point shot.
But Hyland opted to pass the ball — the only problem was Harden was standing in his way and the pass hit him on the head, bringing the game to a halt.
It was clearly an illegal move and Harden was handed a technical foul, although he could see the funny side after the game, labelling his mistake a “miscommunication”.
The 76ers improved to 32-16, and they were two and a half games behind the league-leading Celtics after Boston rallied to beat the Lakers in a game that featured 19 lead changes.