LOS ANGELES _ It was Joel Embiid Career Night at the Staples Center.
The center finished with career highs of 46 points, seven assists and seven blocks Wednesday night in a 115-109 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center. Embiid also had career highs in made field goals (14), made free throws (16) and free throw attempts (19). He added 15 rebounds to finish with a second straight double-double, his sixth of the season.
"You realize you have Joel Embiid and the stat line was obvious," coach Brett Brown said.
He was the first player in NBA history with at least 46 points, 15 rebounds, seven blocks and seven assists in a game. He was the first Sixer to score at least 40 since Allen Iverson had 45 in 2006.
Teammate Ben Simmons also had a solid game. The point guard finished with 18 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season. He was one rebound shy of his third triple-double,
The victory improved the Sixers to 8-6 as they won for the seventh time in the last nine games. They are on their best start through 14 games since the 2012-13 season when the Sixers also went 8-6.
Nineteen of Embiid's points came in the fourth quarter of this close game. With the Sixers down one, he converted a three-point play to put the Sixers ahead 103-101 with a little over four minutes to play.
Simmons followed that with a 10-foot jumper on the ensuing possession. After the Lakers pulled within one point, Embiid made a pair of foul shots to give the Sixers a 107-104 lead with 2 minutes, 52 seconds remaining.
The Sixers opened up an eight-point cushion (112-104) after a three-pointer by Robert Covington and a jumper by JJ Redick.
The Lakers pulled within four points with 46.5 seconds left. However, Embiid scored a layup with 26.1 seconds remaining to make it a 114-108 game.
This game featured the much-anticipated matchup between Simmons and the Lakers' Lonzo Ball.
The point guards came into the season as the leading candidates to win rookie of the year. Simmons has since separated himself from Ball, who has been struggling.
This game was a one-sided battle, as Ball failed to live up the hype.
He struggled from the field, finishing with two points on 1-for-9 shooting. The 6-foot-6, 190-pounder missed all six of his three-point attempts. He was benched in fourth quarter for the second consecutive game.
Brandon Ingram led the Lakers (6-9) with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
