After getting some much-needed time off, the Los Angeles Lakers returned to the court on Friday night to host the Philadelphia 76ers, who were without reigning MVP Joel Embiid.
At this point in the season, every game is extremely important for the Lakers, and while it wasn’t pretty, they were able to come away with a 101-94 victory over the 76ers.
Rui Hachimura got the Lakers off to a nice start with the first four points of the game and then a triple to put them up 7-3.
Anthony Davis got going inside from there, although the 76ers did some work on the offensive glass to get back in the game.
About midway through the first quarter, D’Angelo Russell buried back-to-back triples, the first of which broke a tie with Nick Van Exel for the franchise’s all-time 3-point record. At the end of a defensive heavy first quarter though, the Lakers held a slim 24-23 lead.
LeBron James and Jaxson Hayes put their chemistry on display to begin the second when the former found the latter for a dunk and then the exact opposite happened.
Both offenses continued to struggle though, playing carelessly with the ball. Tobias Harris eventually got going with five straight points to tie the game at 43.
The half ended with James and Kelly Oubre Jr. exchanging monster dunks and the 76ers took a slim 52-50 lead into the locker room.
After not making one from the field in the first half, Austin Reaves connected from deep on his first attempt in the third quarter. The Lakers continued to play sloppy though and Mo Bamba connected from deep to give the 76ers a six-point lead.
The Lakers started to show from like after that with Spencer Dinwiddie and Reaves making back-to-back triples. Dinwiddie then hit another as he had his best offensive game as a Laker. At the end of the third quarter though, the 76ers still held a 76-75 lead.
Davis scored inside to begin the fourth as the Lakers regained the lead for the first time in the second half. It was a slugfest from there as both teams were playing physical and the refs allowed it.
Eventually, the Lakers started to gain some separation with back-to-back buckets by James and Davis to put them up five. Davis then had a three-point play and James buried a triple, closing the game out without any issues.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers return to the court on Sunday night when they host another Eastern Conference playoff team in the Indiana Pacers, which is a rematch of the In-Season Tournament finals.
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