This Is What MISERY Looks Like...

Описание: We just had the most controversial game of the season. The battle for LA turned into a rollercoaster… Steph had enough of the Warriors, and Wemby was toying with the Jazz.
But we gotta start in Philly where Joel Embiid was getting a special treatment against the Rockets. I mean, since when is an elbow to the face legal in the NBA? Next, we have a little walk in the park on his way to the rim… Honestly, I don’t know anymore, but back in my day, this was travel. And don’t get me started about the foul calls he was being awarded with…
Look at this, we gon put aside the fact that he traveled again before getting stuck between Thompson and Smith who both had their hands up. And to top things off, Joel probably got mad that Alpi won the 1 on 1 battle underneath his rim, so he decided to flop like a fish on the next play. Let’s see, travel again… lost the ball and then got rewarded with the non-existing foul. BRA-VO! He shot 9 free throws in the 2nd quarter alone, and Royal Ivey who’s an assistant coach in Houston didn’t hold back at halftime. Regardless, I can’t take anything away from Kelly Oubre and Tyrese Maxey, who balled out in this one, leading the Sixers to a 7 point lead before the break. Maxey was flying high at the end of the 1st half to get Philly fans on their feet!
However, Kevin Durant shushed them out in the 3rd quarter. Heat Check! KD nails 3 shots from deep in a row. And meanwhile, the refs continued looking away when Embiid was throwing elbows… I’m not saying that a man the size of Alpi should fall from that contact, but an elbow swing to the torso is an elbow swing to the torso. Udoka was understandably furious. One way or another, the Sixers held a 6 point lead early in the 4th when the Rockets simply had enough.
Sheppard caps off an incredible 17 to 2 run to completely shift the momentum over.
Seeing the game slip away, the Sixers had to have an answer right now. Maxey turns on the jets and all of a sudden we have ourselves a ball game in the clutch. And this is when both teams started trading heavy blows. With 11 of his 36 points in the final period, Tyrese ties the game and the crowd’s going wild. So, can Durant continue the back and forth going?
NO! He misses and now Philly has a chance to win the game. But no one expected this to happen… WHAT!?? In a scramble situation the refs whistle for a jump ball? Udoka was calling for a timeout, but the Rockets didn’t have a clear possession of the ball, meaning the play should’ve continued without stopping the clock… But the more egregious thing is that on the replay we see this… Maaan, to miss a goaltending at the last second of a tie game is criminal. They just robbed Philly the win! The ending of the 4th quarter was expanded even more, with the Sixers being approved a timeout with 0.1 on the clock and Embiid tried to pull off a Trevor Booker, but he was far from reaching the basket. Anyway, in OT, the Sixers decided not to leave anything to chance anymore. The arena explodes as Philly turns defense into offense to take a 4 point lead with little over a minute to go. And KD had all the time and space to respond on the other end buut… After 2 missed 3’s, Durant finally hits the floater, but now they must foul. And Tyrese Maxey stays ice cool on the free throw line to give his team the 2 possession lead. Rushing for a quick score, Thompson loses the ball and we have the exclamation point.
36 points for Maxey and the dramatic win goes to Philadelphia. At the end, Embiid got his 1st triple double of the season with 32, 15 & 10, albeit with some help from the refs.
And all the Clippers needed to go up by 20 points in the battle for LA, was the duo of Kawhi Leonard and James Harden. Harden got Luka in shambles on multiple occasions, and the Claw was looking flawless, putting up 24 points through the middle of the 3rd quarter. And the Lakers didn’t help the fact that DeAndre Ayton was out there jogging empty calories. He misses not one, but two objectively easy shots inside the paint. But follow him throughout this sequence on both ends of the court. He’s literally letting his opponents have their own way. He gets the rebound but handles the ball over to Harden and then watches him shoot the 3. It’s like he’s purposely trying not to get into anything. He doesn’t fight with Zubac for the rebound at all. A little birdie told me that after watching these 40 seconds of misery, JJ Redick decided to sit him down for the last 18 minutes of the game. Anyway, with him and LeBron on the bench, Luka led the 2nd unit to some spectacular plays that got their juice back. The Lakers used an 11 to 3 run to cut the lead to 15. And when James came back, he made the Intuit Dome sound like a Lakers stadium. He’s a freight train personified. He switched places with Luka, and the purple and gold continued mounting their comeback in the 4th quarter as well.