The Philadelphia 76ers returned from a road trip and began a seven-game home stand with a wild 133-122 win in overtime against the Los Angeles Lakers. Joel Embiid went to work right away for the Sixers, scoring 20 points in the first quarter and ending the night with 38 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. James Harden notched a double-double with 28 points and 12 assists and De'Anthony Melton went off for 33 points. For Los Angeles, LeBron James put up 23 points and six assists, Anthony Davis recorded 31 points and 12 rebounds and Austin Reaves contributed 25 points.

Here are three reactions to the Sixers' huge win over the Lakers.

3. Joel Embiid vs. Anthony Davis, a tale of two halves

One game between two opposing players shouldn't be the primary factor in determining who's better overall. However, Embiid did his absolute best to show otherwise by blowing the doors off of Davis to start. But then the Lakers' star bounced back and showed why he's also one of the best in the game.

To open the game, Embiid just straight up could not be stopped. He scored 20 points, matching the Lakers' first-quarter total, on 8-9 shooting while also holding it down on defense. No one got the memo that Embiid was going to take over this game more than Davis and poor Thomas Bryant, who will see himself on posters all over the Delaware Valley forever.

The Lakers tried a lot of different defenses with Embiid. Davis, of course, got the first crack at him before picking up three fouls the first quarter, one of which was a shooting foul against Embiid. LA put James on him, even going with a 2-3 zone and using the guard around him to hedge and double-team him. James remained on him throughout the rest of the game even with Davis in the game.

Embiid didn't rack up a crazy amount of assists but did initiate ball movement around the perimeter that led to triples for his teammates. On defense, he switched screens to guard James, suggesting Rivers wanted that matchup all along but didn't want Embiid away from the basket for too long.

Davis, meanwhile, did not look like the unstoppable force he had shown to be in recent games. He scored just points and was not nearly as assertive as his opposing All-Star big man. Even when he was guarded by Montrezl Harrell for several minutes with Embiid resting, he only got a few looks at scoring.

Come later in the fourth quarter, though, Davis started to get into a groove. He got his scoring going with 21 points in the final frame of regulation and it was Embiid who picked up some untimely fouls and struggled to score. The Lakers made a valiant comeback attempt by forcing Philly into tough shots and turnovers while their star big man poured on the buckets.

Davis made one of the biggest plays of the game by coming up with a steal on a Sixers inbound pass. He made one free throw to tie it but missed the second one, leading to overtime. His effort gave Philadelphia quite a scare and saved himself from embarrassment. Embiid vs. Davis was an interesting battle that ultimately put on a crazy show.

2. James Harden still a work in progress following injury

Harden, still looking to get back into his best shape, had himself a pretty solid game but is still clearly not at his best. He played better than he did against the Houston Rockets but was, unsurprisingly, still rusty against a more competitive squad.

At the beginning of the year, lineups with Harden did quite well on offense. Against the Lakers, he had the chance to build on the Sixers' early lead with a unique lineup featuring Melton, Shake Milton and Furkan Korkmaz with him. (Danuel House Jr. and Georges Niang were out, so Doc Rivers had to get a little creative.) That lineup, which was rounded out by Paul Reed, allowed a 14-2 run before Embiid came back in. Harden couldn't manufacture easy looks for himself or his teammates.

Harden made up for his mishaps without Embiid by making the right plays with him, punctuated by a transition 3-pointer through contact (though he couldn't make it a 4-point play). He used the attention drawn by Embiid and the gaps LA surrendered on defense to help power a strong offensive performance from Philadelphia.

In the second half, he did a better job of leading the Embiid-less offense but still made some bad plays. He scored five points in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, one of which was a mid-range shot that he started falling in love with to begin the season but didn't look for too much in his return. In crunch time, he committed two turnovers that the Lakers turned into points. He made up for that with some key scoring in overtime, though.

The Sixers' crunch time offense was poor overall, and it wasn't just Harden's fault. The Lakers ramped up the energy and Philly couldn't respond. Without a heroic performance from Melton (more on that shortly), LA could have snagged the win in the fourth quarter with its rally. The lack of offensive creativity and execution really showed.

Overall, though, Harden is making progress, which the Sixers will need to avoid more late-game collapses.

1. De'Anthony Melton, Clippers fan to his core

At the pregame shootaround, Melton told reporters that he grew up rooting for the LA Clippers and, subsequently, against the Lakers. He said that the Sixers have to beat the Lakers and did everything he could to make sure of it by playing one of the best-ever games. His 33 points, seven steals and eight triples are new career highs. No player in nearly 30 years has recorded seven triples and seven steals before Melton's outstanding performance.

Melton shot the lights out, making eight of his 11 3-point attempts. Harden and Embiid found him spotting up and he punished the Lakers for sitting in a zone defense. He scored 16 points in the third quarter, a career-best mark for a single quarter while making all six of his field goals. In the fourth quarter, with the Lakers threatening to tie the game with a huge comeback, hit a clutch triple to push the lead to eight with 44 seconds left.

Of course, Mr. Do Something did a lot of other things besides shoot. He converted tough layups over LeBron James and Russell Westbrook, made some good passes (including a pair of assists) and disrupted the Los Angeles offense to the tune of a whopping seven steals. Embiid and Harden obviously dominated the ball but Melton made the most of his chances…mostly.

The chances he missed include a bad pass and missed free throw late in the game, both of which gave the Lakers life. However, Melton kept his cool and remained impactful in overtime by blocking a fastbreak layup attempt, coming up with a loose ball and securing a massive defensive rebound that drew a foul and hitting the two foul shots.

Melton may not be living out his childhood dream of playing for the Clippers. But he did get to live another dream by crushing the hearts of the Lakers. His efforts helped the Sixers pick up a gigantic win.