Alright folks, grab a seat, because today’s dive is all about that insane Philly vs. LA showdown. Saw the box score flashing everywhere and just had to tear it apart myself. Started simple, like I always do.
The Initial Setup
First thing, fired up the laptop late last night. Coffee already cold. Didn’t matter. Pulled up the official NBA box score from the game. Just a wall of numbers at first glance, you know? But I zeroed in on Embiid and LeBron. Knew that duel was the story.
Opened a blank spreadsheet—my trusty old Google Sheets, nothing fancy. Named it “Sixers-Lakers-Brawl-Stats”. Real creative, I know. Set up basic columns: Points, Rebounds, Assists, Turnovers, Steals, Blocks, Minutes Played, Field Goal %. Split it into two sections: one for Embiid, one for LeBron. Wanted a clean side-by-side.
Digging Into the Data
Started punching numbers in manually. Eye-balled Embiid’s points first—38! Nuts. Then LeBron’s—34. Alright, already heating up. Scrolled down for those details everyone misses:
- ✅ Embiid’s minutes: 38 min. LeBron? 39. Almost neck-and-neck time-wise.
- ✅ Field Goals: Embiid went 12/23. LeBron went 13/25. That efficiency, man.
- ✅ Rebounds: Embiid snatched 12 boards. LeBron grabbed 11. Barely breathing between them.
- ❌ Turnovers: This stung. Embiid coughed it up 5 times. LeBron? “Only” 3. Ouch for Philly.
Had to see the free throws too. Embiid shot 12/14 from the line. LeBron? 5/6. Big difference in how they got those points.
Spotting the Wild Stuff
Couldn’t just leave it at counting stats. That’s for box score skimmers. Started adding calculated columns. Made a simple “+/- for each guy” column—figured, why not? Embiid: +2. LeBron: -3. Small sample, but interesting context.
Then, crunched their “Game Scores” using that weird little formula floating around online. Embiid landed around 28.3. LeBron at 27.1. Razor thin. Added notes about when they exploded: Embiid went nuts in the third quarter. LeBron answered late in the fourth.
Putting It All Together
Stared at this messy spreadsheet. Points to Philly barely winning? Sure. But the sheet screamed how LeBron dragged a broken Lakers roster so close, while Embiid carried Philly despite the turnovers. Highlighted those turnover cells in red – obvious weakness.
Felt like I wrestled with it. Saved the sheet, screenshotted key parts. Pasted them into a simple doc with my final thoughts:
- 📌 Embiid’s scoring and rebounding dominance.
- 📌 LeBron’s ridiculous efficiency and playmaking.
- 📌 Turnovers and foul shots were the swing factors.
- 📌 Game Score? Basically tied. Two giants going beast mode.
Final coffee sip gone. Cold. But I felt it. That duel wasn’t just points on a screen. Saw it. Broke it down. Raw, exhausting, but worth every minute. Makes you appreciate the grind, you know?
