The Sixers are undefeated in December

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

THE STREAK IS OVER! Bless the Philadelphia 76ers, who began December with a bang. The Sixers beat the Lakers to snap their 28-game losing streak and end their 0-18 start to this season. Here are 14 things that happened in between Sixers wins.

GIFTS! The Sixers gave Kobe a framed Lower Merion jersey and the crowd gave him a really cool ovation. He delivered early, too, leading to a raucous celebration. Then things got back to normal and he finished with 20 points on 7-26 shooting, including 4-17 from the three-point line. He took 17 three-pointers. He is shooting 20.8 percent from downtown this season.

This possession of futility is a good summary of where we’re at with Kobe Bryant, The Basketball Player.

HOW DO WE PROCESS THIS? Paul Flannery and I discussed where Kobe ranks among the greatest players and how he’ll be judged by history.

PERFECT: I really enjoyed and really encourage you to read Dan Devine’s piece on embracing Kobe’s Viking funeral.

INTERESTING: Jermaine O’Neal brought up an interesting question: which draft class was better, MJ’s 1984 or Kobe’s 1996? Jason Patt breaks down the argument.

THAT PASS: The Cavaliers lost to the Wizards because of John Wall, but no one can take away LeBron’s halfcourt bounce pass. Guh!

OH NO, DIRK: C.J. McCollum is pretty nasty, and he spun Dirk Nowitzki like a top on this one. (The Mavericks won in overtime.)

NEWSFLASH: Marc Gasol is really, really good. That is all.

APPARENTLY ROY HIBBERT FIGHTS NOW: This is not the first Roy Hibbert scuffle of the season.

NO ONE EVER EXPECTS THE NO-LOOK: D’Angelo Russell fooled everyone in the building with this no-look.

THE PRESSURE BUILDS: Lee Jenkins writes about where LeBron’s brain is right now when it comes to bringing a championship to Cleveland, ending the curse and shutting down the Factory of Sadness. The anecdote about him queuing up a Warriors game at 2 a.m. is intensely personal and a bit haunting. Is LeBron going crazy?

ONE OF THE BEST D-LEAGUE DUNKS EVER. TOO REAL.

ENTER THE KNICKS: Zach Lowe on the Knicks’ bright future.

GET HYPED: ESPN promotes an upcoming Knicks game with the Kristaps Porzingis rap song and a hilarious/awesome highlight reel. These ESPN promos are wonderful this year.

OPPOSITES: Buck Harvey notes that every since the early days Tim Duncan and Kobe have remained polar opposites.

SO MUCH MONEY: Floyd Mayweather jumps on a jet to take his entourage to D-League games now.

WARM FUZZIES: Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins now have standing weekly meetings with George Karl and Boogie says he’ll kidnap Rondo if he tries to sign elsewhere this summer.

HOW THEY GOT BILLY: Thorough, interesting piece by Sam Amick on how Billy Donovan decided the time was right to move to the NBA and how the Thunder landed him.

TONIGHT TONIGHT: NBA TV double-header: Pelicans-Rockets (8 p.m. ET) and Pacers-Clippers (10:30). The Warriors attempt to move to 20-0 in Charlotte (7, League Pass) and the Raptors clash with the Hawks (8, League Pass).

Happy Wednesday. See you next time.