LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Joel Embiid delivered his sixth National Basketball Association career triple-double on Monday with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to lead Philadelphia’s 138-94 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The 29-year-old Cameroonian seven-footer, last season’s NBA Most Valuable Player, notched his first triple-double of the year on the same night the 76ers made 22 three-pointers, one shy of the club record in a single game.
Embiid made 9-of-15 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from three-point range, and sank 10 of his 12 free throws.
“You’re trying to play winning basketball,” Embiid said.
“When my teammates are wide open, I want to get them easy shots, just make the game easy for myself.”
Tyrese Maxey scored a game-high 31 points and added eight assists for the Sixers, who shot 47-of-93 from the floor and 22-of-46 from three-point range.
“We’re playing together. We’re having fun sharing the ball,” Embiid said.
“The ball is moving. We know what we’ve got to do. It starts on defense. Once you get stops, you get in transition and get easy baskets.”
Maxey went 5-of-12 from 3-point range while Patrick Beverley was 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and Marcus Morris was 4-of-5 with three-point shots.
“We want everyone to shoot a ton of threes and it paid off today,” Beverley said.
“When we get on the court it’s easy. In practice we give each other hell.”
It was the most lopsided blowout in the history of the rivalry, eclipsing a 31-point win by the Syracuse Nationals, who moved to Philadelphia, over the then-Minneapolis Lakers in November 1951.
Four-time NBA MVP LeBron James led the Lakers with 18 points while Anthony Davis added 17 and 11 rebounds for the visitors.
