The Lakeshow Review

The Lakers resumed their current Eastern Conference trek on Sunday night, when they took on the 76ers in Philadelphia. After getting smoked in Boston two nights prior, albeit in a game where many key starters took the night off, the team looked to get back on the winning track. It wouldn’t come easy as the Sixers are a quality opponent, but LA managed to prevail in a competitive up and down contest by a final score of 112-108. LeBron James put forth far and away his best performance of the season, as he looks to re-assert himself into the team’s hierarchy. The Lakers will return to LA to take on the San Antonio Spurs, for some Emirates Cup action, before hitting the road again to finish their road trip. Fortunately, they’ll do so with some momentum on their side.

Luka Dončić returned to the lineup, having missed the last two contests after attending the birth of his newborn. He wasted no time getting back into rhythm; scoring a game high 31 points, while leading the Lakers with 15 rebounds and 11 assists. The Lakers, despite a cold start to the game managed to find their way back to a 30-30 tie after one quarter of play. Philly did manage to create some separation in the second quarter, mostly on the back of guard Tyrese Maxey’s 15 first half points, as they took a small 60-53 lead prior to the break.

LA came out strong in the second half, winning the third quarter 34-24. They unlocked a new layer of their offense by activating the two-man game of Luka and LeBron James. The Lakers were able to generate multiple touches for LeBron with Luka initiating, both on the block and at the elbows, where James converted with relative efficiency. LeBron finished with a robust 29 points, to go with seven boards and six assists. Their two-man action also gave way for players like Deandre Ayton to step in, as he scored 14 points to go with 12 rebounds on a rock-solid 7-7 shooting form the floor.

The Lakers successfully stemmed both the pace and the momentum to their side during the second half, as their half-court execution gave them the needed separation to eventually outlast the fighting Sixers. In the fourth, it was Reaves and LeBron teaming up for some good sequences. AR finished with a subpar performance, only shooting 3-16 for 11 points. But he did connect with LeBron on several skip passes in the pick-and-roll which resulted in big baskets down the stretch. LeBron scored 12 of his 29 points in the final quarter to get the Lakers past the finish line. Defensively, the team fared much better in the second half, holding the Sixers to just 48 points in the final 24 minutes.

The Lakers did not play a great team game, but the effort was there. They ran the floor with purpose and as a result produced quality shots in the transition game (they scored 11 fast break points). LeBron’s aggressiveness was instrumental in getting the team organized in the open floor. The offensive gameplan was particularly good, in that it made an effort to feature all three of its stars, despite AR having a poor shooting night. Early on, they went heavy with Luka ball screens. Whether it was straight pick-and-roll, or double drags with Ayton rolling and Rui Hachimura popping, they were able to get solid early offense looks. Rui was productive yet again, scoring 17 points as he continues to be a corner three savant. Philadelphia also did a poor job at tagging Ayton all night, which led to many lobs at the rim, once he was able to slip past the low help. Later on, as the pace slowed, LA made sure to feed LeBron in the post. Towards the end, they ran a healthy dose of two-man action with AR and LeBron, and then Luka and LeBron. Once the Sixers opted to trap Luka, he swiftly swung the ball over to LeBron, who had it going all night and was able to hit the dagger three to put the team up by five with little over a minute to play. Just smart and unselfish basketball all around.

Defensively, many of the same issues still persist. The Lakers get broken down at the point of attack much too frequently. Tyrese Maxey had his way, scoring a team-high 28 points, to go with nine assists. He was particularly dangerous on switches, where he cooked LAs bigs all night. Outside of Marcus Smart, or Jarred Vanderbilt (who continues to reside in the doghouse) the Lakers simply lack the defensive personnel to stay in front of the Maxey types on the perimeter. LA actually lost the points in the paint battle, 38-36, but were able to salvage the loss by outshooting Philly 48% to 35% from the floor. Effectively, their defense tightened when they needed to. But the fact remains, they need the type of defensive wings that can stop the bleeding that opponents can inflict by attacking LAs defense off the dribble.

The Lakers will now return home to take on the San Antonio Spurs, for the Emirates Cup quarterfinal on Wednesday. LA beat San Antonio earlier in the year, but that was before De’Aaron Fox returned to the lineup. With Wemby slated to come back (because they always do against the Lakers), this will be a tight contest. One where the team will need to bring forth the winning habits they’ve shown in their better outings recently. Hopefully they can keep it going and continue to rack up wins in the early stages of the season. Go Lakers.