THE 76ers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 103-91 in Kobe Bryant’s final trip to Philadelphia on Tuesday night behind 23 points from Robert Covington for its first victory of the season. The win ended a 28-game losing streak.

    The Sixers remain tied for the worst start in NBA history with the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets, who also opened 0-18.

    It was the first win for the Sixers since March 25 at Denver.

    “Finally,” forward Nerlens Noel said.

    Coach Brett Brown’s team has long languished at the bottom of the NBA standings and reeled off two separate losing streaks of at least 26 games in his three seasons.

    For one night, in front of a sellout crowd of 20,510 that came to cheer Bryant, the streaks hardly mattered.

    “I’m pleased for the city,” Brown said. “We don’t want this streak continuing.”

    Hours earlier, Bryant felt the love in Philadelphia as soon as he entered the arena.

    He took selfies with fans who might never see him play again, and his presence injected a playoff atmosphere into a city that has lost much of its passion in NBA basketball.

    With a packed crowd standing and roaring in appreciation, Bryant was lauded like a hometown hero, not the “Hometown Zero” he was once labeled in Philadelphia’s tabloids.

    Bryant, who will end his 20-year career this season, opened the first leg of his farewell tour in his hometown and was feted with the kind of reverence and gratitude normally reserved for a Sixers great.

    “I wasn’t expecting that type of reaction, ovation,” he said. “Deeply appreciative beyond belief. It was really, really special.”

    Playing with the shot selection of a pickup artist, Bryant tried to deliver a special performance in his finale.

    He buried a step-back 3-pointer off the opening tip.

    He hit another 3 on the next possession.

    Bryant made it 3 for 3 and had the Philly crowd chanting “M-V-P!” as he turned back the clock to his championship form.

    “It was a little spurt of old-school Kobe,” Noel said.

    Bryant said he could tell the start made the Sixers a little starstruck — most were babies when he started his career.

    Bryant scored 20 points on 7-of-26 shooting and made four 3s.

    The win belonged to Philadelphia. The night belonged to Bryant.

    His homecoming game came with a rare emotional tug for the player fans loved to boo through the years. He waved to the crowd and bowed his head in appreciation as a “Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!’ chants filled Wells Fargo Center.

    He was greeted at midcourt by his Lower Merion high school coach, Gregg Downer, and 76ers great Julius Erving. Bryant hugged both in front of a crowd filled with purple-and-gold No. 24 jerseys.

    He smiled after every shot and bantered with fans, who made “Thank you, Kobe” signs.

    (SD-Agencies)