THE Philadelphia 76ers have lost big for three years, when they appeared to value draft picks more than players.

    They got a huge victory Tuesday night, and maybe the wins on the court will soon follow.

    The 76ers won the NBA draft lottery, giving them the No. 1 selection in June.

    “The pain that we’ve all gone through, the pain of losing is real. You can’t camouflage it,” said coach Brett Brown, who represented the 76ers on stage. “The city has been incredibly patient, tolerant, choose any word you want. I think this validates some of the pain we went through.”

    The Los Angeles Lakers finished second but also felt like winners, as they would have dealt their pick to Philadelphia had they fallen out of the top three.

    The Boston Celtics, with a pick dealt to them by the Brooklyn Nets, remained in the No. 3 slot.

    The remainder of the 14 teams are slotted in the inverse order of their won-loss record.

    (SD-Agencies)