The Lakers finished out their road trip in Philadelphia, as they were looking to nab their second win in a row. They headed into the game without Jordan Farmar, Pau Gasol or Nick Young, the latest Laker to fall victim to injury.
Young suffered a displaced fracture of his patella and a bone bruise in the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Shawne Williams also made his comeback to the Laker roster tonight as he was signed to a 10-day contract to fill Young’s spot.
First Quarter
The Wells Fargo Center was rather bare as the Lakers and 76ers squared off. Wes Johnson came out strong with a few jumpers and a fastbreak slam. However, the Lakers continued to struggle on defense as the 76ers took control early and maintained the lead throughout the first quarter. Johnson led the Lakers squad, scoring 10 points in the quarter. As the first quarter came to an end the Lakers trailed the 76ers, 35-26.
Lakers finishing 1Q with no one from last season’s team on the floor: Kaman, Kelly, Shawne Williams, Wes Johnson, Marshall. PHI 35, LAL 26.
— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) February 8, 2014
Second Quarter
The Caveman, Chris Kaman, hit a jumper that was nothing but net to start the second quarter. The offense came alive a bit as the purple and gold managed to cut the lead to just four halfway through the quarter. However, the Lakers had a total of 10 turnovers in the first half that the 76ers converted into 13 points.
Steve Nash celebrated his 40th birthday contributing a few buckets and a pretty layup. Ryan Kelly started to get in the groove, leading the team with 11 points. The Lakers hit back to back threes at the end of the quarter to come within striking range, ending the half trailing the 76ers, 64-61.
Third Quarter
The Lakers started off strong as Ryan Kelly continued the fire with a jumper and Steve Blake nocked down his fourth three of the game. With a two blocks from Wes Johnson and a dunk from Robert Sacre off a feed from Nash, the Lakers took their first lead of the game three minutes into the third quarter.
It was a tight game throughout the quarter until Kendall Marshall hit back to back scores and Blake sank another three to put the Lakers up by five with two minutes left. Tony Wroten hit a hail mary shot to end the quarter as the Lakers held onto the lead, 87-85.
Fourth Quarter
Kendall Marshall started out the quarter with a nice bounce pass to Jordan Hill for the slam. Marshall kept the bigs active tonight, sending another bounce pass to Kaman for a layup. Hill put down another dunk and Kaman hit a jumper to put the Lakers up 100-90 with just under seven minutes left in the game.
Lakers defense stepped up in the second half, forcing a total of 23 turnovers in the game with a season high 14 steals. Kendall Marshall did what he does best and notched 10 assists helping six Lakers reach double digits in scoring. Steve Nash led the team with 19 points, five assists and four rebounds. At the end of four, the Lakers came out on top defeating the 76ers, 112-98.
