LaVar Ball must have had a lot of money on this game, and if LaMelo's play with just seconds left is any indication, he let his youngest son know about it.
The Philadelphia 76ers and the Charlotte Hornets faced off for the third time this season on Wednesday night, and Charlotte kept it closer than expected given their disastrous first quarter performance. At the end of the first period, Philadelphia led 30-13 and were showing no signs of slowing down. For Sixers fans and for bettors who took the away team -7.5 (or -7, depending on the book), it was a promising start.
And though there were some bumps along the way, Philly seemed to be holding on to a big enough lead throughout the majority of the game to cover that spread. In fact, when Joel Embiid dribbled up the court with the shot clock unplugged and his Sixers up eight points, those bets seemed about as secure as ever. For those who bet the under on the total, at 223.5, their win also seemed to be pretty much a done deal. It was 114-106 with just 16 seconds left to go.
And then, LaMelo took it upon himself to make sure that wasn't the case.
At least the total was only at 223 and didn't surpass the over... right? Wrong. Tobias Harris was immediately fouled, sunk two free throws, followed by two free throws from the Hornets' Devonte' Graham at the other end, followed by two more free throws from Joel Embiid to finish the game. The final score was 118-111. And for whoever bet on the Sixers -7.5 or on the under, it was a pretty bad beat to have to stomach. Even those who took Philly at -7 went from a win to a push, which is a downer in itself.
But Sixers fans with no financial stake in the game couldn't care less. A win is a win, and this one pushed them to 16-6 on the season, 2.5 games up on the Milwaukee Bucks (13-8) and the Brooklyn Nets (14-9). Five different Sixers finished in double figures, including yet another 30-plus point outing from Joel Embiid, a 26-point effort from Tobias Harris and another all-around display from Ben Simmons. On the negative side, it seems as though Seth Curry and Shake Milton are going through rough patches at the same time — Curry finished with a grand total of zero points on 0-3 shooting, while Milton had 14 but was inefficient in doing so.
Philadelphia is at home against the Blazers on Thursday night before taking on the Brooklyn Nets in an exciting contest this Saturday.
LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM App
Follow RADIO.COM Sports
Twitter | Facebook I Instagram