If it hadn’t cost them multiple games the third quarter thing would be a tremendous bit.
The Sixers fell 112-108 to the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday night.
Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 28 points, seven rebounds and nine assists as he shot 11-of-24 from the field. VJ Edgecombe had 15 points and five boards going 5-of-13 from the floor.
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Joel Embiid couldn’t hit water from a boat, going 4-of-20 from the floor to finish with 16 points and seven rebounds in 30:16 of action. Paul George finished with a modest 12 points on 3-of-8 shooting.
Luka Doncic led all scorers with 31 points along with 15 rebounds and 11 assists while LeBron James had 29 points shooting 12-of-17 from the floor.
For once, it was a relatively clean injury report for both teams. The only inactives were Kelly Oubre Jr., Trendon Watford and Marcus Smart.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
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The Sixers’ perimeter defense is not as Swiss cheese as it looked earlier in the season, but the combo of Donic and Austin Reaves was quite a test for them. Doncic knocked down his first two midrange jumpers of the night, picking up an and-1 on Maxey on the second. The Sixers started even faster on the other end, with Maxey and Edgecombe both flying around screens to knock down threes. Embiid got to the hoop once taking Rui Hachimura off the dribble, and George got himself baskets on a couple of drives as well.
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As Doncic began to miss shots the Sixers’ defense did a solid job holding strong in the opening minutes. They forced Reaves into missing his first two shots, and got him to dribble the ball off his foot out of bounds. They got beat by DeAndre Ayton a couple times grabbing lobs or offensive rebounds, but Dominick Barlow did rotate over and intercept a lob attempt after a couple Ayton baskets.
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There’s never a good time to pick up a tech, but as the Lakers started hitting shots was poor timing from Maxey. He was justifiably upset at the call that was missed, but it wasn’t worth getting as angry as he got in the first quarter of a regular season game. Meanwhile the Lakers, primarily James, took advantage of some driving lanes left wide open. A Hachimura corner three tied things up at 30 as the quarter closed.
Second Quarter
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After a hot start, the Sixers’ offense did start to look stagnant. It didn’t help that Embiid’s jumper wasn’t falling — he started the game 1-of-8 after that first take to the hoop. A surge from Jared McCain was just what they needed, ripping off a quick eight points to start the quarter. He did a good job of using Embiid to create space for himself, especially on this three ball.
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That certainly did the job, good enough that Maxey could get a little longer rest on the bench. Suring things up in the paint, the Sixers were putting in a solid defensive performance. The only Lakers star that was beating them efficiently was James.
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They couldn’t keep those guys down forever. Reaves knocked down a couple amidst a short LA run after missing his first eight shots of the night, Doncic had another frustrating and-1, but the Sixers had an answer. George drawing a foul on a three halted momentum a bit. Embiid still couldn’t buy a field goal, but he did work his way to line six times and was able to block a James layup on the other end. The Sixers took a seven-point lead into the half.
Third Quarter
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What little breathing room that was there got eaten up very quickly as the Lakers opened the second half on a 9-3 largely fueled by James. Stepping out to the three-point line did not improve Embiid’s shotmaking in this one. He finally had another positive offensive play when he was able to get by his defender and lob it up to Barlow for a layup.
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The Lakers continued to score at that pace, putting the Sixers in a tough spot as they continued to struggle on their end. Doncic was slowly gaining more control of the game, getting his team a good shot on just about every drive of his.
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The Sixers’ offense was in such a free fall that they threw into Andre Drummond for a couple post-ups to get them going. As the quarter closed they finally got Maxey open coming off a screen for a three off the catch, and were able to build off that by getting a couple stops. Edgecombe hit a three of his own on the following possession, and Maxey and Drummond both splitting free throws got it down to a three-point Lakers lead as the third ended.
Fourth Quarter
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Generating decent shots quickly became a challenge again with Maxey on the bench. Embiid finally got a jumper to fall and sarcastically threw his hands in the air, but he smoked an open layup a few possessions later. He wasn’t able to give much on the other end either — any time the Lakers got near the hoop it looked like a free basket.
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A tough midrange from Maxey once again made it a two-point lead right before a Lakers timeout. Coming out of it they had some good opportunities, like the two wide-open threes they got after Maxey stripped Doncic. The big shot to flip the game again just didn’t fall in the middle stretches of the quarter.
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Embiid’s night was surprisingly not done when he checked out with 26 minutes earlier in the quarter. He returned, but the Lakers’ minutes restricted star was having a much better shooting night — James had just made it a five-point game when Embiid returned. They were able to force a miss and get a quick Grimes three, but again struggled once they had gotten the lead down to two.
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They finally hit a shot to tie the game when Embiid finally got a free throw line jumper to fall. The Lakers answered right back with a James three. They went back to Embiid who got an open turnaround jumper in the paint, but it didn’t fall and Edgecombe mistimed the putback. James isolated this time and hit a long two over Grimes, putting this one away as the Lakers’ stars just did a better job hitting shots than the Sixers’ stars.
