Reviewing All The Top Games From The Weekend

Joel Embiid scored 37 points on Sunday as the Philadelphia 76ers, reconfigured after last week’s trade, crushed the Los Angeles Lakers 143-120. Embiid also had 14 rebounds.

The Lakers have had a bizarre road trip, with a blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers, a huge come-from-behind win over the Boston Celtics and now this defeat. They have one more game before the NBA hiatus for its All-Star Game festivities.

Also:
The Golden State Warriors trailed by 19 points in the first quarter but rallied to beat the Miami Heat 120-118. Kevin Durant, who scored 39 points, hit a game-tying three-pointer in the final minute and DeMarcus Cousins converted two free throws with 5.4 seconds left.

Golf:
Phil Mickelson held a 3-shot lead with two holes remaining on Sunday when play was suspended at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. A late start on Sunday morning and a break for a hail storm caused the delay. Mickelson has won this tournament four times previously and is expected to tee off with playing partner Paul Casey at 11 a.m. ET.

Elsewhere:
The retiring skier Lindsey Vonn earned a bronze medal in her final race on Sunday. Vonn placed third in the downhill at the world Alpine championships in Are, Sweden. Vonn, of the United States, won a gold medal in downhill at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

William Byron,.21, won the pole for next week’s Daytona 500. Byron edged out last year’s winner, Alex Bowman, by .036 seconds for his first career pole.

No. 2 Duke grabbed an early lead and defeated No. 3 Virginia 81-71 in men’s college basketball on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va. Both of Virginia’s losses this season have been to Duke. The Cavaliers get no time to recover, playing a hot (seven straight wins) North Carolina on Monday night.

The new Associated Press poll drops on Monday.

The new Alliance of American Football kicked off its inaugural season with doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday and generally strong TV ratings. The proof of its staying power will be in the coming weeks as the novelty wears off.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman