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NBA highlights on Feb. 25: Harden impresses 76ers in debut game
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James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on in the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center in Minnesota, Minneapolis, U.S., February 25, 2022. /CFP

James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on in the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center in Minnesota, Minneapolis, U.S., February 25, 2022. /CFP

The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 133-102 at Target Center on Friday to secure a dominant win on the road.

James Harden, in his debut game for the 76ers, went 5-7 in 3-pointers and 8-9 in free throws to drop 27 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists for his new team. Though the victory came so easy for the 76ers on Friday that all five starters of the team achieved 20+ of Plus-Minus though Harden was still the best with +35.

"We're unselfish, we just want to win," Harden said after the game. "We've got guys, from top to bottom, that it feels that way on the court. Great things are going to happen more times than not. My job is to come in and add to each individual on this team."

"[I'm] extremely happy," he added.

Joel Embiid (L) and James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers hug each other in the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center in Minnesota, Minneapolis, U.S., February 25, 2022. /CFP

Joel Embiid (L) and James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers hug each other in the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center in Minnesota, Minneapolis, U.S., February 25, 2022. /CFP

Harden was not the only "extremely happy" guy of the 76ers. Joel Embiid, who has been a major candidate for the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) this season, was 10-18 in field goals (FGs) and 11-13 in free throws to get 34 points and 10 rebounds.

"I've never been wide open like this in my life. Seriously, the passing, like I wasn't even expecting it and it was just coming," Embiid said.

Unlike Ben Simmons, the 76ers' former main orchestrator, Harden built his game-making on incredible individual offensive threat, especially from downtown. When he's able to fire like this from outside, he didn't have to compete with Embiid for space in the paint. If the opponents chose to switch in defending screen play between Harden and Embiid, they had to watch either Harden punish his opponents at the 3-point line or Embiid score easy points facing little resistance.

Other 76ers benefited from Harden's presence on the floor too. Tyrese Maxey went 10-13 in FGs to get 28 points.

Karl Anthony Towns (#32) of the Minnesota Timberwolves defends Joel Embiid (#21) of the Philadelphia 76ers at Target Center in Minnesota, Minneapolis, U.S., February 25, 2022. /CFP

Karl Anthony Towns (#32) of the Minnesota Timberwolves defends Joel Embiid (#21) of the Philadelphia 76ers at Target Center in Minnesota, Minneapolis, U.S., February 25, 2022. /CFP

The Timberwolves were the trailing side in each of the four quarters of Friday's game. Karl-Anthony Towns managed to get 25 points and seven rebounds for the team, but he had the worst Plus-Minus of -32. The whole team committed only 23 assists at the cost of 16 turnovers.

"The most costly thing tonight, and it might not be on the stat sheet, was that we were looking for shortcuts all night long," Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said. "We come down, one pass, try to make a home run play on offense. And more than anything it was our offense that let us down, really."

Terance Mann (#14) of the Los Angeles Clippers dunks in the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 25, 2022. /CFP

Terance Mann (#14) of the Los Angeles Clippers dunks in the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 25, 2022. /CFP

Clippers beat Lakers after awkward plays of both sides

The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 105-102 at Crypto.com Arena on Friday to secure their second straight win and fourth win of the past five games.

Both sides lacked key players in this game. The Lakers didn't have Anthony Davis while the Clippers missed Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and newly arrived Norman Powell.

Lakers head coach Frank Vogel chose to go big on defense by putting Dwight Howard in the starting lineup. The 36-year-old veteran had quite a remarkable performance in the first half with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass plus three blocks.

Dwight Howard (#39) of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots in the game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 25, 2022. /CFP

Dwight Howard (#39) of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots in the game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 25, 2022. /CFP

However, as a result of being overloaded early, Howard lost his energy on both offense and defense in the second half. Neither LeBron James nor Russell Westbrook was in their best form. The game wouldn't have been so close had the Clippers not been as disappointing as 1-8 behind the arc in the third quarter.

The Clippers led 103-102 with 19.9 seconds left on the clock. They had to do a throw-in instead of two free throws after the successful challenge by the Lakers. However, coach Tyronn Lue seemed to have forgotten that they had almost no time left to hold the ball in the back court. When Reggie Jackson received the ball, he was immediately called an eight-second violation, giving the ball back to the purple and gold.

LeBron James (#6) of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on in the game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 25, 2022. /CFP

LeBron James (#6) of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on in the game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 25, 2022. /CFP

Then came the confusing play of the Lakers. Trailing by only one point, LeBron James dribbled for over 10 seconds in a position where he was unable to launch offense until the Clippers began to double-team him. James passed the ball to Carmelo Anthony, who was at the top of the key but not open at all, not to mention he was one big step away from the 3-point line. It's not surprising that Anthony missed that tough shot.

After Jackson made two free throws, the Clippers pocketed their sixth consecutive rivalry win over the Lakers. They remain eighth in the Western Conference with a 31-31 record, 2.5 games above the ninth Lakers.

 

Other games on Friday (away teams come first):

Toronto Raptors 93-125 Charlotte Hornets

Oklahoma City Thunder 129-125 Indiana Pacers

Houston Rockets 111-119 Orlando Magic

San Antonio Spurs 157-153 Washington Wizards

Miami Heat 115-100 New York Knicks

New Orleans Pelicans 117-102 Phoenix Suns

Dallas Mavericks 109-114 Utah Jazz

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