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Joel Embiid, 76ers Beat Anthony Davis, Lakers as LeBron James Sits With Injury
January 28, 2022
The Philadelphia 76ers earned a 105-87 home win over the LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday at Wells Fargo Center.
Three-point shooting made all the difference: Philadelphia made 13 shots from downtown, while L.A. went 6-of-29 from three.
Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 26 points, Tobias Harris scored 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting and Tyrese Maxey's 10 assists led all players. Thanks to their efforts, the 76ers ran away with this one in the third quarter after outscoring L.A. 34-20.
The Lakers missed James, who sat with a sore left knee. Head coach Frank Vogel relayed the news to reporters pregame:
Anthony Davis did all he could to keep the Lakers in this game, scoring 31 points on 14-of-21 shooting and grabbing 12 rebounds. The rest of the team largely struggled, though, making 22-of-67 field goals.
The 29-19 76ers have now won four of their last five games. The 24-25 Lakers have alternated losses and wins over their past seven matchups.
Notable Performances
Lakers F/C Anthony Davis: 31 points, 12 rebounds
Lakers G Russell Westbrook: 20 points
Lakers G Malik Monk: 11 points, 5 assists
76ers C Joel Embiid: 26 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists
76ers F Tobias Harris: 23 points, 5 rebounds
76ers G Tyrese Maxey: 14 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds
76ers Cruise in 3rd Quarter To Put Game Away
Early in the third quarter, the Lakers trailed just 54-52 with Davis' latest bucket giving him 19 points. The big man was the best player on the floor despite suffering a right wrist injury that briefly sent him to the locker room in the first quarter.
However, the rest of the Lakers couldn't follow suit, and the 76ers took advantage in the third quarter.
Maxey got rolling in the third, scoring eight points in under three minutes during one stretch. A Tobias Harris three-pointer following that spurt and another Maxey layup gave the 76ers a 72-58 lead.
Matisse Thybulle's defense also took center stage, with a pair of steals leading to four points during the spurt. The second of them led to the run-ending Maxey bucket.
Embiid took over for the rest of the third quarter, dropping seven points and adding two dimes. This three-point play gave Philly a 79-63 lead:
The big man later took advantage of a double-team and found Niang for a wide-open three:
The 76ers went up by as many as 22 in the third. The Lakers chipped away in the fourth and knocked the lead down to 12 points, but Philadelphia held L.A. off for the comfortable win thanks to its third-quarter cushion.
AD Does It All for Lakers
The Lakers' lone silver lining is that Davis looked like his best self in his second game back after missing over a month with a sprained MCL.
Davis looked spry early when he ran up the court and caught Malik Monk's Hail Mary pass for two:
He frankly outplayed Embiid all night, dunking on the big man here to tie the game at 14:
The Monk-Davis connection kept working, with AD going up top to finish off the guard's alley-oop pass:
If not for Davis' efforts, this game may have been over early in the third quarter. His work was made more impressive by the fact that Davis dominated against Embiid, who has typically gotten the best of AD over the years:
Rich Hofmann @rich_hofmannUnbelievable first half from Anthony Davis, who Embiid has played well against in his career: 23 points on 10-13 shooting. A nice mix of easy ones from his teammates but also a few tough, well-contested mid-rangers.<br><br>Sixers still lead the LeBron-less Lakers at halftime, 54-48.
The second half was largely a disaster for L.A., as the 76ers dominated on both ends. James' absence clearly played a part, and the Lakers' inability to produce much offense outside AD did as well.
Still, the Lakers could perhaps (finally) get on a consistent winning track if they have a healthy James and Davis together, especially with the latter looking great.
Having the two on the court together has been a luxury all season, but they could hit their stride if that pairing is finally realized on anything more than a sporadic basis this year.
What's Next?
Philadelphia will host the Sacramento Kings on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Lakers will visit the Charlotte Hornets on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Spectrum Center.