IT FELT LIKE old-time 76ers basketball at the Wells Fargo Center.
A diminutive guard was lighting it up in the fourth quarter, propelling the Sixers to a win against the vaunted Los Angeles Lakers, and the sellout crowd of 20,064 was chanting "Beat LA, Beat LA."
Only it wasn't Allen Iverson providing the late-game heroics, it was Lou Williams. And Julius Erving & Co. weren't the ones hearing the repeated requests.
That was then, this is now. And right now is a pretty good time for the Sixers, too, as they improved to 18-7 with a hard-fought, 95-90 win over the Lakers (14-11).
Williams, who finished with a team-high 24 points, scored 12 of the team's final 14 points over the final 3 minutes and 48 seconds as the Sixers overcame a late seven-point deficit to pick up their fifth win in six games.
"Coach always tells me to come in and be ultra-aggressive, especially in the fourth," said Williams. "Throughout my career I always felt that is my best quarter, so he just wanted me to come in and be aggressive. I like any challenge, especially when they put the ball in your hands and ask for big buckets in games like this. This is big for us. Any time we can beat the cream of the crop, those teams that you come in the gym every day and you want to be like, you want to be mentioned in that same conversation. To beat those teams and have the kind of start that we've had this year, it's just great."
So was Williams last night. After a jumper by Jrue Holiday (13 points, six assists) had cut the Lakers' lead to five, Williams closed the game out in Mariano Rivera fashion. He hit a three to cut it to two at 86-84 with 3:48 remaining. Then, after the teams traded baskets, Williams scored the game's next seven points to give the Sixers a 93-88 lead with 1:19 remaining. His two foul shots with 10.1 seconds remaining closed out the impressive win.
Williams' timely scoring allowed the Sixers to overcome a huge rebounding disparity, as the Lakers won the battle of the boards, 55-30.
"That was an amazing win for us," said coach Doug Collins, his light blue shirt made several shades darker due to perspiration. "I didn't know how we were going to battle through their size. We were trying to get our bodies on those guys, but they're just so big. I don't know if I've ever won a game where I got outrebounded by 25. I don't think we've ever done that, but I told our guys, 'They just keep coming. They just keep coming. They just keep playing.'
