Embiid, Sixers Power Past Lakers Out West
The Philadelphia 76ers' young core that has "trusted the process" really showed up on Wednesday night, while the Los Angeles Lakers' young players did the opposite on their home floor. Joel Embiid had a career-high 46 points in the Sixers' 115-109 victory over the Lakers. The young star's performance was the highest point total for Philadelphia in 11 years, as he also added 15 rebounds in his team's eighth win of the year. Combine those numbers with seven assists and seven blocks, Embiid becomes the first player to put up a stat line like that since Julius Erving did so in 1982 for the Sixers against the Detroit Pistons. The 23-year-old was coming off a career-high 16-rebound night against the Clippers on Sunday. Ben Simmons also came up just a rebound shy of a triple-double with 18 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds on the night. Allen Iverson was the last player to score as much as Embiid did for Philly, as he put up 46 in a game against the Chicago Bulls in 2006. Brandon Ingram led the Lakers with 26 points and 11 rebounds, as they sat Lonzo Ball for the entire fourth quarter for a second straight game. Ball finished the night just 1-for-9 shooting in 21 minutes of play. The Sixers return home on Saturday night to play host to the defending NBA champs, the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers will play host to the Phoenix Suns on Friday.
Scherzer, Kluber Bring Home Cy Young Awards
The Cy Young Awards stayed in familiar territory for both leagues on Wednesday night, including Max Scherzer winning his second in a row for the Washington Nationals. The right-hander beat out his teammate Stephen Strasburg and Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, becoming the 10th player with three Cy Young Awards in MLB history. The 33-year-old earned 27 of 30 first-place votes, winning the same award he won in the American League in 2013 with the Detroit Tigers. Scherzer led the National League with 268 strikeouts, was second with a 2.51 ERA, and fourth with 16 victories. Those numbers led the Nats to a National League East Division Title. Meanwhile, despite missing some time due to injury, Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians won the award in the American League. Kluber missed a month on the disabled list early on in the season, but came back to throw 204 innings, as he went at least six in 25 of his 29 starts and recorded five complete games. This is the second Cy Young Award in his career, as he won his first since 2014 by beating out Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox with 28 of 30 first-place votes. The 31-year-old led the A.L. with 18 wins and a 2.25 ERA, this after having a 5.06 mark on May 2nd. He returned from the disabled list on June 1st and went 15-2 with a 1.62 ERA. The Indians and Nationals were both World Series favorites going in to the postseason, but were unable to finish things off in disappointing endings, despite the success of these two hurlers.
LeBron, Cavs Get Record Back Above .500
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers know that it's a process to overcome their slow start to the season, and the first step was getting their record back above .500. James scored 31 points, while Kevin Love added 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 115-107 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night. The win is the Cavs' third straight on the road, which puts their overall record at 8-7. The Hornets gave this game away by turning the ball over 13 times, including five times in the decisive fourth quarter. Kyle Korver's three-pointer at the end of the third quarter put Cleveland up for good, as the Cavs held off Charlotte for their seventh straight win in the series, and 11th in the past 12 games. James's personal regular season record against the Hornets improved to 40-6 in his career. The defending Eastern Conference Champs have won four of five, including three in a row, and improved to 5-3 away from home. The Hornets dropped their fifth game in a row, as they have not won a game since November 1st against the Milwaukee Bucks. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist led the way in a losing effort with 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting, while Kemba Walker added 20 in the loss. The Cavaliers will return home on Friday to host the Los Angeles Clippers, while the Hornets look to snap their skid in Chicago against the Bulls on Friday night.
The Philadelphia 76ers' young core that has "trusted the process" really showed up on Wednesday night, while the Los Angeles Lakers' young players did the opposite on their home floor. Joel Embiid had a career-high 46 points in the Sixers' 115-109 victory over the Lakers. The young star's performance was the highest point total for Philadelphia in 11 years, as he also added 15 rebounds in his team's eighth win of the year. Combine those numbers with seven assists and seven blocks, Embiid becomes the first player to put up a stat line like that since Julius Erving did so in 1982 for the Sixers against the Detroit Pistons. The 23-year-old was coming off a career-high 16-rebound night against the Clippers on Sunday. Ben Simmons also came up just a rebound shy of a triple-double with 18 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds on the night. Allen Iverson was the last player to score as much as Embiid did for Philly, as he put up 46 in a game against the Chicago Bulls in 2006. Brandon Ingram led the Lakers with 26 points and 11 rebounds, as they sat Lonzo Ball for the entire fourth quarter for a second straight game. Ball finished the night just 1-for-9 shooting in 21 minutes of play. The Sixers return home on Saturday night to play host to the defending NBA champs, the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers will play host to the Phoenix Suns on Friday.
Scherzer, Kluber Bring Home Cy Young Awards
The Cy Young Awards stayed in familiar territory for both leagues on Wednesday night, including Max Scherzer winning his second in a row for the Washington Nationals. The right-hander beat out his teammate Stephen Strasburg and Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, becoming the 10th player with three Cy Young Awards in MLB history. The 33-year-old earned 27 of 30 first-place votes, winning the same award he won in the American League in 2013 with the Detroit Tigers. Scherzer led the National League with 268 strikeouts, was second with a 2.51 ERA, and fourth with 16 victories. Those numbers led the Nats to a National League East Division Title. Meanwhile, despite missing some time due to injury, Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians won the award in the American League. Kluber missed a month on the disabled list early on in the season, but came back to throw 204 innings, as he went at least six in 25 of his 29 starts and recorded five complete games. This is the second Cy Young Award in his career, as he won his first since 2014 by beating out Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox with 28 of 30 first-place votes. The 31-year-old led the A.L. with 18 wins and a 2.25 ERA, this after having a 5.06 mark on May 2nd. He returned from the disabled list on June 1st and went 15-2 with a 1.62 ERA. The Indians and Nationals were both World Series favorites going in to the postseason, but were unable to finish things off in disappointing endings, despite the success of these two hurlers.
LeBron, Cavs Get Record Back Above .500
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers know that it's a process to overcome their slow start to the season, and the first step was getting their record back above .500. James scored 31 points, while Kevin Love added 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 115-107 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night. The win is the Cavs' third straight on the road, which puts their overall record at 8-7. The Hornets gave this game away by turning the ball over 13 times, including five times in the decisive fourth quarter. Kyle Korver's three-pointer at the end of the third quarter put Cleveland up for good, as the Cavs held off Charlotte for their seventh straight win in the series, and 11th in the past 12 games. James's personal regular season record against the Hornets improved to 40-6 in his career. The defending Eastern Conference Champs have won four of five, including three in a row, and improved to 5-3 away from home. The Hornets dropped their fifth game in a row, as they have not won a game since November 1st against the Milwaukee Bucks. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist led the way in a losing effort with 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting, while Kemba Walker added 20 in the loss. The Cavaliers will return home on Friday to host the Los Angeles Clippers, while the Hornets look to snap their skid in Chicago against the Bulls on Friday night.
