The Los Angeles Lakers went for their fifth straight win on Tuesday night, taking on the Philadelphia 76ers in the second night of a back-to-back.
The Lakers were a bit shorthanded in this one with Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt out, although that pales in comparison to the 76ers who were without Joel Embiid, Paul George, Caleb Martin, KJ Martin, Andrew Drummond and Jared McCain. Anthony Davis was forced to leave with an injury of his own though and as a result, the Lakers struggled to the tune of a 118-104 loss.
It was a slow start for both teams although LeBron James got things started with a pair of buckets and an assist to Austin Reaves to put his team up 6-0.
Rui Hachimura, who missed the last two games with calf soreness, was back in the starting lineup for this one and had a pair of nice cuts for dunks.
With the Lakers missing Vincent, Bronny James got a chance at rotation minutes for the first time. He had a bad turnover though that allowed the 76ers to cut the Lakers’ lead to 18-15 after a 6-0 run, causing JJ Redick to call a quick timeout.
Tyrese Maxey was going at Bronny with ease and then Guerschon Yabusele beat the buzzer with a putback to tie the game at 25 at the end of the first quarter. Maxey and Yabusele had all 25 points by the 76ers.
Davis was forced to go back to the locker room late in the first due to an abdominal muscle straight, which left the Lakers even more shorthanded. He was eventually ruled out for the night.
Eric Gordon connected from deep to begin the second, giving Philadelphia its first lead. The Lakers’ play from there was sloppy as they had some bad turnovers and all of a sudden their deficit had ballooned to eight.
The Lakers started chipping away from there with Dalton Knecht getting going offensively. Turnovers continued to be an issue though as it allowed Maxey to get out in transition and use his downhill speed. The Lakers really struggled defensively without Davis in the lineup and wound up going into the locker room trailing 73-57.
Coming back from that deficit without Davis was no easy task, especially with the Lakers continuing to turn the ball over at a high rate to start the third quarter. The tried to get back in it by hitting a few triples, but the turnovers kept them from making any sort of sustained run and they went into the fourth quarter trailing 99-76.
Redick decided to give it one last chance with LeBron on the floor to begin the fourth, but there was no comeback to be had and L.A. would eventually suffer the loss.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers will continue their road trip on Thursday against the Washington Wizards and then a Saturday evening matchup with the New York Knicks before returning to L.A.
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