It took 19 tries, but the Philadelphia 76ers finally won a game. The 76ers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 103-91, in Kobe Bryant's final trip to Philadelphia on Tuesday night behind 23 points from Robert Covington for its first victory of the season. The win ended a 28-game losing streak.
76ers beat Kobe and the Lakers to end their winless streak
There’s a basketball team in Philadelphia, and they’re now 1-18.
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
The first few weeks of the season were rough for Philadelphia, which was the last team in the league to earn its first win for the second year in a row. The Sixers had come close to victory at times, including an 84-80 loss to the Boston Celtics the day before Thanksgiving, but have often looked completely overwhelmed in lopsided blowouts. Against the Lakers, they finally closed out a game, pulling away from the Lakers in the fourth and holding them off down the stretch.
Kobe Bryant started the night by scoring the first 11 Lakers' points, but he fell off after, hitting 7-of-26 shots and finishing with 20 points. Jerami Grant, who was fabulous down the stretch, was all over Bryant defensively.
The 76ers dominated the fourth quarter unlike they have all season.
The 76ers have been bad, even worse than last season when they reeled off 17 straight losses to kick off the season. They went on to win 18 games last season, which was third worst in the NBA — only the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks were worse.
The 76ers haven’t had a winning season since the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season when they finished 35-31 and lost in the second round of the playoffs. They’re currently on track for their third consecutive season with less than 20 wins. Even with the victory over Lakers on Wednesday, they’ll close out the season 5-77 at their current pace, which would be the worst record in NBA history.
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