With three days of rest and multiple practices under their belts, things were in favor for the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night as they hosted the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 76ers have predictably struggled since Joel Embiid went down with a knee injury, but the Lakers couldn’t afford to relax given the playoff race in the Western Conference. Los Angeles has been down several role players, but they at least had the luxury of having their stars healthy for the matchup.
However, Philadelphia gave Los Angeles all they could handle as they forced the purple and gold into 21 turnovers that they turned into 27 points. Despite their sloppy play, the Lakers did just enough in the fourth quarter to secure a win and hold their place as the ninth seed.
Without Embiid on the floor, Anthony Davis made sure to assert his will in the painted area. Davis nearly had a double-double in the first quarter as he had seven points and nine rebounds. The 76ers defense tried to force the ball out of Davis’ hands whenever he touched the ball, but the Lakers did a good job of finding ways to get him touches.
The fourth quarter also belonged to Davis as he came up huge on a couple of defensive plays to prevent Philadelphia from coming back. The All-Star big man finished the night with a team-high 23 points to go along with 19 rebounds, four assists and four blocks.
D’Angelo Russell came into the night needed to make just one more 3-pointer to break Nick Van Exel’s franchise record for most made 3-pointers made in a single season. Russell accomplished the feat in the first quarter and followed it up with another one for good measure.
It wasn’t an efficient night for Russell whose only fields goals came from beyond the arc, but he contributed to the win with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and one steal.
LeBron James was turnover-prone the entire night as he committed a game-high eight. James seemed too intent on slipping passes through tight corridors, but he made up for it with some timely buckets in the second half to give the Lakers a win.
The King finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
What’s next for Lakers
Los Angeles will have one more home game on Sunday against the Indiana Pacers before they head east for their road trip. Their first road game will be on Tuesday against the Milwaukee Bucks.
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