Los Angeles (AFP)

Tobias Harris, executioner of the Lakers: the Philadelphia Sixers inflicted on the reigning NBA champions their first loss of the season (107-106) away, Wednesday night in the clash between leaders of the two conferences.

Yet it was by nothing.

And without Harris, author of the winning shot three seconds from the end, the Lakers would undoubtedly have won after a great comeback.

Led by 12 points at 3 min 7 sec from the buzzer, LeBron James' teammates then scored 13 points in a row, even taking the lead (106-105) a few seconds from the end.

Then Harris came in from the left, scoring the victorious shot on the head of Alex Caruso and thus showering the hopes of the Californians.

- LeBron's fault -

Philadelphia thus stops the series of 10 victories of the Lakers since the beginning of the season and allows the Utah Jazz, winner against Dallas (116-104) Wednesday night, to take the head of the Western conference.

To win the Sixers were able to count on Harris, but also on Joel Embiid (28 points) and Ben Simmons, who managed a triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

“Some people thought we hadn't proven ourselves. But we wanted to face the champion. To see where we really were,” Harris said after the match.

Only downside: Embiid freaked himself out in the third quarter, falling heavily on his back - a body part that has been causing him pain for some time - after being pushed by James as he stood up to make a dunk.

The Sixers pivot, who had missed his team's previous game precisely because of back pain, cautiously got up and was able to continue the game.

James, despite this glaring foul, was not taken out by the referee.

Basketball "is a very dangerous game," said the Cameroonian.

"I guarantee you if it had been me I probably would have been kicked out of the game."

- The Nets at the end of the suspense -

In the East, the Brooklyn Nets won a hard-fought 132-128 overtime win over the Hawks in Atlanta.

They thus chain a third consecutive victory.

They were carried by a great performance from their three leaders: Kevin Durant scored 32 points, James Harden added a double-double (31 points, 15 assists), and Kyrie Irving added 26 points.

Trae Young (28 points, 14 assists) was not left out on the Hawks side, helped by Cam Reddish (24 pts), who scored the point of the equalizer within 30 seconds of the buzzer to offer an extension to Atlanta .

But the Nets held on to win after a particularly close match, where there were no less than 21 changes in the lead and where each team has never led by more than 7 points. advanced.

East side, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee remain in ambush behind the Sixers, after their victory (115-108) over Toronto.

The two-time MVP had 24 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists for the Bucks.

Damontas Sabonis, despite a bruised knee early in the game, made him a triple double (22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists) to allow the Pacers to beat the Hornets 116-106.

In the rest of the night, Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson each scored 32 points to give the New Orleans Pelicans a victory over Washington Wizards 124-106, defeating the 47 points of a still impeccable Bradley Beal.

© 2021 AFP