The West is a mess, and 3 other things from Thursday night in the NBA

There were only four NBA games on TV Thursday night, but there was no shortage of action. Here’s everything you missed if you started your weekend a day early.

Philly held its lead from start to finish and absorbed a late-game Cleveland comeback effort. That’s when Joel Embiid hit a fadeaway over two Cavs’ defenders and taunted somebody:

Then Dario Saric hit a corner three and stared the Cavs’ bench down before making an unnecessary layup when he should have dribbled the clock out. Chris Webber, who was calling the game, best described Cleveland’s emotions as “manufactured anger.”

Then, Embiid may or may not have tried to recruit LeBron James, who can become a free agent next summer:

We did say may or may not, right?

Gotta Trust the Process.

Thomas scored a season-high 29 points in the Lakers’ win over the Heat on Thursday. It’s refreshing to see him finally have some success after the rough couple months he had before being traded to Los Angeles. Read more about his night here.

Karl-Anthony Towns went off for 34 points and 17 rebounds, but he didn’t score in the final 6:30 of the fourth quarter. That was awful timing for the Timberwolves, who couldn’t stop Lillard from having his way.

After Lillard went 2-of-12 for 12 first-half points (mainly from the foul line), he exploded for 34 point on 7-of-10 in the second half. And once he got Nemanja Bjelica on an island late in the fourth quarter ... well, that story wrote its own ending.

The only sure locks to make the playoffs in the Western Conference are the Warriors and the Rockets. Only three games separate the third seed from the ninth-place Clippers. Injuries have ravaged the Timberwolves (Jimmy Butler), Spurs (Kawhi Leonard and recently LaMarcus Aldridge), Pelicans (DeMarcus Cousins) and the Thunder (Andre Roberson). Even the Clippers miss Avery Bradley and Patrick Beverley. It’s shaping up for a wild finish to the second half of the season that could leave one playoff favorite on the outside looking in.

Lakers 131, Heat 113

76ers 108, Cavaliers 97

Kings 116, Nets 111

Trail Blazers 108, Timberwolves 99