PHILADELPHIA (AP) — LeBron James hit a late go-ahead 3-pointer and scored 29 points, Luka Doncic had a triple-double and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 112-108 on Sunday night.
Joel Embiid, who otherwise had an awful shooting night for the 76ers, made an 18-footer that tied it at 105. James came right back down and hit a 3 with 1:12 left for the lead and added a 20-footer on the next possession to make it 110-105.
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Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, left, talks with Tyrese Maxey, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Los Angeles Lakers' Rui Hachimura, right, shoots the ball with Philadelphia 76ers' Dom Barlow, left, coming over to defend during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey, center, reacts to his three-point shot during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic, left, makes his move against Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James, left, talks with Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Doncic finished with 31 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists.
Tyrese Maxey led Philadelphia with 28 points. Embiid missed 17 of 21 shots and scored 16 points.
Doncic, the NBA scoring leader, missed the last two games as he traveled to Slovenia where his fiancee gave birth to their daughter. James sat out Friday night against Boston with sciatica, which kept him sidelined for the first 14 games this season, and left foot joint arthritis.
James reached 10 points in the second quarter in his first game since the end of his streak of 1,297 double-digit scoring games when the NBA’s career points leader finished with only eight Thursday night at Toronto.
James threw down a dunk in the first half that had a packed house roaring in what could be his final game in Philadelphia. James also had a shot rejected at the rim by Embiid late in the half.
Embiid has battled his share of knee injuries this season but wasn't about to miss this one against James — his gold medal teammate in the 2024 Paris Games — and the Lakers. Embiid missed 10 of 11 shots in the first half but was 6 of 6 from the free throw line.
Lakers: Host San Antonio on Wednesday night in an NBA Cup quarterfinal.
76ers: Host Indiana on Friday night.
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Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, left, talks with Tyrese Maxey, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Los Angeles Lakers' Rui Hachimura, right, shoots the ball with Philadelphia 76ers' Dom Barlow, left, coming over to defend during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey, center, reacts to his three-point shot during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic, left, makes his move against Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James, left, talks with Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that “someone from within” the Iranian regime might be the best choice to take power once the U.S.-Israel military campaign is completed — but said “most of the people we had in mind are dead.”
The president, who four days ago had emphatically called on Iranians to “take over your government” once the U.S.-Israel bombardment ends, appeared to drift further away from the idea that the war presents an opportunity to end the theocratic rule that has been in place since the country's 1979 Islamic revolution.
Trump said that many Iranian officials his administration had viewed as potential new leaders for the country had been killed in the U.S.-Israeli campaign that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and many other top officials.
Trump has not publicly identified anyone whom he views as a credible future leader for Iran. And it’s unclear what, if any, outreach the White House had with Iranian officials since the war started.
“Most of the people we had in mind are dead,” he said in an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office. “Now we have another group, they may be dead also, based on reports. So you have a third wave coming. Pretty soon we’re not going to know anybody.”
Trump said Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran’s last shah who is trying to position himself for a return should Iran’s Shiite theocracy fall, is not someone that his administration has considered in depth to take over leadership in Iran.
“It would seem to me that somebody from within maybe would be more appropriate,” Trump said, adding that it may make sense for “somebody that’s there, that’s currently popular, if there is such a person” to emerge from the power vacuum.
Trump's comments came as he hosted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for his first in-person engagement with a foreign leader since the U.S. and Israel launched the war against Iran.
Trump said he wanted to avoid a “worst case” scenario where “somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person.”
“That could happen. We don’t want that to happen,” Trump added. “You go through this, and then in five years you realize you put somebody in who was no better.”
The White House has stepped up its push to counter criticism that it moved unnecessarily quickly to launch a war of choice against Iran.
Trump’s decision to strike last week followed lengthy negotiations by the president’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner with the Iranians — talks the U.S. increasingly viewed as an effort to stall any progress.
After the most recent round of discussions in Geneva, Switzerland, last week, Witkoff and Kushner told Trump that reaching a nuclear agreement similar to one that former President Barack Obama struck in 2015 was possible, according to a senior administration official.
The official, who briefed journalists on condition of anonymity, described it as a potential “Obama-plus deal” and Witkoff and Kushner believed such an agreement would take months, but was possible.
Still, even as they expressed their willingness to pursue diplomacy and “fight for every point that we can” if that’s what Trump wanted, the negotiators stressed to the president that the Iranians were not willing to make a deal that would be satisfactory to the U.S.
Meanwhile, Trump sharply criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday for Britain's reluctance to join the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
“This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” Trump said, blasting Britain’s reluctance to let U.S. warplanes use its bases.
Starmer had initially blocked American planes from using British bases for the attacks on Iran that started on Saturday. He later agreed to let the United States use bases in England and on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to strike Iran’s ballistic missiles and their storage sites, but not to hit other targets.
The president also sought to push back on criticism from some of his staunchest allies over the decision to go to war — questions that grew louder after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that the U.S. had decided to strike because “we knew that there was going to be an Israeli action.”
“And we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” Rubio said.
But Trump rejected the notion that the White House had been dragged into the conflict by Israel. “We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack,” Trump said. “If anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”
Merz said during his visit with Trump at the Oval Office that Germany is “looking forward to the day after” the Iran war is over.
He said Berlin wants to work with the U.S. on a strategy for when the current Iranian government no longer exists.
“We are having a high interest in common approach and common work and what we can do,” Merz said. “And this is this is important not just for the Americans,” he said. “This is extremely important for Europe and extremely important for Israel and their security.”
Merz also noted surging oil prices were damaging the world economy, laying down an argument for finding a quick endgame to the conflict.
The president acknowledged that oil and gas prices were going to rise as the U.S. remains engaged in the strikes — yet argued it would be fleeting.
“We have a little high oil prices for a little while, but as soon as this ends, those prices are going to drop, I believe, lower than even before,” Trump said.
The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. jumped 11 cents overnight Tuesday to about $3.11 in the United States, according to the AAA.
AP writers Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, Fatima Hussein and Michelle L. Price in Washington, and Jill Lawless in London contributed reporting.
President Donald Trump meets with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Donald Trump, right, talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
