NBA

Harden stars on 76ers debut alongside Embiid, Clippers edge Lakers

By Sports Desk February 26, 2022

James Harden scored 27 points with 13 assists on his Philadelphia 76ers debut and formed a strong partnership with Joel Embiid in a 133-102 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.

Harden, who crossed from the Brooklyn Nets in an NBA Trade Deadline move earlier this month, almost registered a debut triple-double, with eight rebounds.

Embiid has been in irrepressible form this season, although there had been some concern Harden's arrival may blunt some of his offensive impact, but the center contributed 34 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

The new-look 76ers had immediate cohesion, scoring 65 points in the first half, before a 41-point final quarter with Tyrese Maxey finishing with 28 points while Harden also drained five three-pointers, shooting seven-of-12 from the field.

The 76ers recorded a season-high 19 three-pointers for the game, with head coach Doc Rivers admitting "that was pretty good" when asked post-game if Harden's debut could have gone any better.

 

Lakers fall to Clippers again

Terance Mann led the way with 19 points and 10 rebounds as the Los Angeles Clippers won a tight game with the Los Angeles Lakers 105-102, the sixth time in a row they have beaten their local rivals.

LeBron James top scored with 21 but was unable to stop the Clippers from taking charge in the closing moments, with Amir Coffey adding 12 of his 14 points for the night in the fourth quarter.

The San Antonio Spurs edged the Washington Wizards 157-153 in double over-time, with both teams setting season-highs in scoring. Spurs guard Dejounte Murray recorded a triple-double, although he missed potential winning shots in both regulation and the first over-time.

RJ Barrett scored 46 points including six three-pointers but the New York Knicks went down 115-110 to the Miami Heat, while Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points and Rudy Gobert had a double-double (14 points and 17 rebounds) as the Utah Jazz beat Luka Doncic's Dallas Mavericks 114-109.

 

Suns streak halted

The table-topping Phoenix Suns' eight-game winning streak came to an end, going down 117-102 to the lowly New Orleans Pelicans. Devin Booker top scored with 30 points for the Suns, who were without injured veteran guard Chris Paul. CJ McCollum scored 32 points for the Pels as he continues to thrive following his trade.

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    Ansu Fati's fabulous first-half double fired LaLiga champions Barcelona to victory in their Camp Nou farewell with a 3-0 win over Real Mallorca.

    The Blaugrana signed off from their famous stadium in style, with Gavi also netting in a comfortable win over their 10-men visitors on Sunday.

    In what was their final home game at their iconic ground before a temporary move to facilitate a lengthy renovation, Xavi's side ensured they bade it a fitting goodbye.

    After losses against Real Sociedad and Real Valladolid, it also marked an impressive return to form.

    Barca needed less than a minute to carve open their visitors, with Fati tucking away a Gavi cutback following a neat Robert Lewandowski ball into the box.

    Matters soon worsened for Mallorca, when Amath Ndiaye saw his yellow card upgraded to a red by VAR for a shocking foul on Alejandro Balde.

    Fati doubled his tally after that with a close-range rocket off Lewandowski's deft one-touch set-up, and Barca never looked like losing control from there on out.

    Mallorca dug their heels in, but even then remained under siege, with Jules Kounde hitting the bar with a header shortly after the restart.

    Lewandowski crashed a free-kick against the woodwork too, but Barca finally found their third when Gavi lashed a low finish beyond Dominik Greif.

    There were standing ovations for Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets on their final home appearances, with the Camp Nou crowd rising to salute the club legends.

  • Bologna 2-2 Napoli: Partenopei throw away two-goal lead amid Spalletti exit talk Bologna 2-2 Napoli: Partenopei throw away two-goal lead amid Spalletti exit talk

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    However, Lewis Ferguson halved the arrears just past the hour before De Silvestri headed home with six minutes remaining, and only the offside flag denied Nicola Sansone a late winner as Napoli were forced to cling on. 

    A terrible pass from Bologna goalkeeper Skorupski gifted Napoli their 14th-minute opener as Osimhen intercepted on the edge of the area and finished into an empty net.

    Skorupski somewhat made amends by thwarting both Osimhen and Alessio Zerbin as Napoli threatened to extend their lead before the break.

    Marko Arnautovic skimmed a rare Bologna chance across the face of an empty goal after the interval before Osimhen furthered Napoli's advantage.

    The Napoli striker rolled onto Bartosz Bereszynski's delicate throughball before firing through the legs of Skorupski.

    An unmarked Ferguson pulled one back shortly thereafter, tapping in a rebound after Pierluigi Gollini saved from Sansone, who subsequently assisted De Silvestri's headed equaliser with a delightful corner.

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    In 2000, it was Bayer Leverkusen who suffered final-day heartbreak as Bayern Munich overhauled them to clinch one of their most dramatic Bundesliga title triumphs.

    This time around, it was Borussia Dortmund's turn to lament the most galling of near misses, while their rivals lifted the Meisterschale following Jamal Musiala's late winner at Koln.

    The most topsy-turvy title race in Europe's top-five leagues this campaign, therefore, ended in familiar fashion, with Bayern maintaining their stranglehold on the German crown.

    After Bayern overcame a stern Dortmund challenge to win their 11th consecutive Bundesliga title, Stats Perform looks at the best facts and figures to emerge from their triumphant campaign.

    The headline stats

    There has never been much doubt regarding Bayern's status as the dominant force in Germany. Their latest title win represents their 33rd overall, and their 32nd since the Bundesliga was founded in 1963. Combined, all other clubs in Bundesliga history have 28.

    Meanwhile, Bayern's current streak of 11 consecutive domestic titles is the longest such run in the history of Europe's top five leagues.

    However, as the decision to dispense with Julian Nagelsmann's services and bring in Thomas Tuchel in March would suggest, this has not been a vintage campaign for Bayern.

    Having edged out Dortmund on goal difference after both teams finished with 71 points, Bayern's class of 2022-23 collected the fewest points of any Bundesliga-winning team since 2009-10, when Die Roten were crowned champions with 70.

    Bayern's tally of 21 victories this term was actually bettered by Dortmund (22), who became just the second team in the three-points-for-a-win era to boast the most wins in a Bundesliga season and not win the title (after Leverkusen in 1996-97).

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    While Tuchel's Bayern did not get close to the incredible point tallies recorded under Jupp Heynckes, Pep Guardiola or Carlo Ancelotti, the new boss did enough, rallying his team to collect 12 from their final five matches and pip his former employers at the last.

    Tuchel became only the second coach to take over a Bundesliga club during the second half of a season and lead them to the title, after the legendary Franz Beckenbauer did so with Bayern in 1993-94.

    While Beckenbauer took the reins from matchday 21 of that campaign, Tuchel did so from matchday 26 this term, making it the latest managerial change from a Bundesliga-winning team.

    Muller extends his record, Musiala the main man

    Bayern's last-gasp triumph also ensured several key players kept up their own incredible records of domestic success.

    While attacking stalwart Thomas Muller won a record-extending 12th German title, Kingsley Coman – who opened the scoring in Bayern's final-day win at Koln – preserved his record of finishing every season of his professional career as a domestic champion.

    Having won Ligue 1 twice with Paris Saint-Germain and Serie A as a Juventus player in 2014-15, Coman has now lifted the Meisterschale eight times during his spell in Bavaria.

    Those records, however, owe everything to Musiala's intervention against Koln, with the 20-year-old stepping off the bench to fire into the bottom-right corner as stoppage time loomed.

    That strike was his 12th of the Bundesliga campaign, one more than he had managed in 57 combined appearances in the competition before this season.

    It was a fitting way for Musiala to cap a season in which only Eintracht Frankfurt's Randal Kolo Muani (26) bettered his tally of 22 Bundesliga goal contributions.

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