Lakers embarrassed in 44-point loss to Sixers
PHILADELPHIA — The Los Angeles Lakers suffered their worst margin loss of the season and surrendered a season-high 22 threes in their 44-point, 138-94 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.
The Lakers big loss drops them to 10–8 on the season and 3–6 on the road.
“We got killed on the 3-point line today,” LeBron James said of the loss.
The Lakers surged with high energy and an early lead at the start of the game before their momentum was halted by a 20-2 Sixers run, with no timeouts called by head coach Darvin Ham to stop Philadelphia’s momentum. This resulted in a 32–19 deficit at the end of the first quarter.
Philadelphia shot 47.8% from three on 22-of-46, compared to the Lakers 25% from deep on just 7-for-28.
The Lakers' turnover margin was another factory in their ugly loss, with 17 total turnovers on the night compared to just five from the Sixers.
LeBron was asked what needed to change for the Lakers to avoid another loss of this magnitude. He replied, ‘A lot,’ without elaborating.
LeBron finished with a team-high 18 points and five assists while shooting 8-for-12 (66.6%) from the field. LeBron finished without registering a rebound in a game for the first time since Nov. 2, 2010, when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to Spectrum SportsNet.
The key elements in Philadelphia’s win included head coach Nick Nurse and the coaching staff’s second-half adjustments in defending Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid's triple-double performance. Their game plan limited Davis to five points in the second half, while Embiid finished with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
Davis finished with a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double while shooting 7-for-14 (50%) overall from the floor in 32 minutes.
The Lakers entered this matchup with four rotation players out of the lineup due to injury: Cam Reddish, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, and Jarred Vanderbilt.
With the Lakers thin in their rotation, 20-year-old Max Christie got the call for the second straight game in the starting lineup with a challenging task against rising star Tyrese Maxey.
Maxey finished with a game-high 31 points on 5-for-12 (41.6%) shooting from deep and 9-for-20 (45%) overall.
Christie was the only Laker in the starting unit not to score in double figures with six points in 25 minutes of action.
Austin Reaves seemed poised for a strong game, tallying 11 points going into halftime, but struggled to score with just one point in the second half, finishing the loss with 12 total points in 28 minutes.
“They beat the shit out of us,” Reaves said.
The Lakers will play their third game of a four-game road trip on Wednesday at 4 p.m. against the Detroit Pistons in the first of a back-to-back.
