The Los Angeles Lakers were defeated by the Philadelphia 76ers, 108-91.
Anthony Davis looked for his jumper early against Al Horford, knocking down his first two attempts, including an and-one that gave him five quick points. With Joel Embiid out of the lineup, the 76ers played more uptempo, resulting in several baskets for Ben Simmons in the restricted area.
Philadelphia’s defense began to take over as they were able to turn Los Angeles over and get out in transition, while also draining their attempts from three to give them a double-digit lead. Despite a 7-0 run, the 76ers were able to respond and the Lakers found themselves down 35-25.
With Philadelphia going to a small-ball lineup to start the second quarter, LeBron James came out much more aggressive, forcing his way to the rim on numerous occasions for easy layups and free throws. However, the 76ers looked to take advantage of their size on the wing, hunting mismatches and scoring over the Lakers defense.
With James off the floor, Los Angeles turned to Davis to get their offense going and he delivered as he hit two shots in the lane to narrow the deficit. The game’s pace slowed to a crawl thanks to a series of fouls, but Philadelphia was able to drain a pair of threes to close the quarter, leaving Los Angeles down 50-59.
The Lakers started the third quarter with a poor effort on defense as they allowed the 76ers more open looks from beyond the arc. Los Angeles also struggled to hit anything from the perimeter, allowing Philadelphia to extend their lead to 22 points.
James passed Kobe Bryant on the all-time scoring list after a layup in the lane, but the Lakers still struggled to get any stops. Davis looked to spark his team on both ends by hitting shots and making defensive plays but the purple and gold went into the fourth down 85-73.
Scoring was scarce to begin the final frame as both teams had issues on offense, but Simmons’ ability to push the ball up the floor allowed Philadelphia to generate good shot opportunities. However, Los Angeles continued to scrap and seemed to find some momentum after a thunderous breakaway dunk from James.
Alex Caruso provided a major spark as he was able to turn the 76ers over, fueling the Lakers fast break but Horford knocked down three jumpers to push the lead back to 12 points. Los Angeles also went cold from the field, thus ending their Grammy road trip with a loss.
