By: Kylan Watson
After beating the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Los Angeles Lakers tonight in a showdown between five all-stars. Both teams battled throughout this game, but LeBron James went on a late game scoring run to take this game away from Philly 112-108. The loss snapped the Sixers three-game winning streak.
The Sixers once again found their offense early in this game and Tyrese Maxey had it working early in this game. He scored 28 points in this contest and had nine assists in this contest. Maxey continues to make a case to be the MVP of the first half and tonight his team needed his playmaking ability. He was able to create multiple high-percentage scoring opportunities for his teammates. Maxey will need to get better at execution late in games. Tonight, he had a critical turnover late in the game as he was attacking the basket and took a bad shot late in the game as well instead of working in the flow of the offense. Improving his decision making late in games will help him truly ascend as the number one option for the Sixers.
Despite Maxey’s explosive game the Lakers were able to take control of this game in the third quarter. They took full advantage of Philly’s inability to string together competitive third quarters throughout this season. Luka Doncic (31 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and had 11 assists in this game) and James (29 points and made 4/6 three-pointers) took this game over and the Sixers had no answers for them. Late in the contest James turned back the clock and hit two clutch three-pointers and the game clinching two pointer that sealed this game for LA. Late in games superstars must be superstars and the Lakers outplayed Philly in the fourth quarter making better decisions and taking better shots and that won the day for them.
Additionally, the Sixers have nothing to be ashamed of because they took the third best team in the association to the limit. Had they made more shots and played better in the fourth quarter they win this game. Joel Embiid struggled in this contest and did not have it on the offensive end, but he made and created multiple high-percentage opportunities for his teammates. He is still working his way back into the flow of the game, and the Sixers should look to get him going early in the games that he plays. An active Embiid is a wonderful thing for Philly, and he is still drawing double teams even though he is not his usual self yet.
The Sixers must take advantage of that and cash in on those high-percentage shooting opportunities he creates they did not shoot the ball well tonight and that needs to change as they start to see more contending teams throughout the rest of December.
They will not play again until Friday night as they prepare to face the Indiana Pacers. Philly should take that time to get healthy and improve their execution in the fourth quarter. The Sixers will need to use their ball movement to create high-percentage shooting opportunities to take advantage of Indiana’s aggressive defensive scheme. Additionally, they will need to limit their turnovers and stay connected on the defensive end to make things difficult for the Pacers shooters. Implementing these things into their game plan on Friday night will put them in great position to win their 14th game of the season.