By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
A Philadelphia 76ers team without Joel Embiid and Paul George overpowered the Los Angeles Lakers, 118-104, during their inter-conference clash in the ongoing NBA regular season on January 29, 2025.
Fresh off back-to-back momentum-boosting wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls, the 76ers sustained their fine form and stunned the Lakers to protect their home-court advantage.
The Lakers still had the upper hand after grabbing a brief nine-point lead in the first quarter, but their momentum stalled when their superstar big man, Anthony Davis, got hurt and didn’t return to the ball game.
With still 2:10 remaining in the opening frame, Davis suffered an abdominal muscle strain and went straight ahead to the locker room. The versatile frontcourt star logged in nine minutes and tallied a total of four points, two rebounds, and a steal.
Without the presence of their two-way anchor, Tyrese Maxey and the rest of the 76ers pummeled the Lakers in the paint and scored a total of 56 points in the shaded lane.
Maxey kicked off the Philadelphia rally at the start of the second frame and put the 76ers in the driver’s seat after trailing in the first 12 minutes of action.
The daredevil guard torched the Lakers with his quick drives to the hole and chipped in 12 markers of the 76ers’ 48-point outing in just the second period.
From trailing by nine points, Philadelphia suddenly ballooned their lead to 16 points and entered the second half with a confidence boost.
The 76ers started to roll over the Lakers in the third, extending their biggest advantage to 25 points capped off by a 26-19 run heading to the final frame.
Los Angeles gained some signs of life after LeBron James put on a mini offensive run that cut their deficit to 10 points, but another scoring avalanche from Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Eric Gordon sealed the win for the 76ers.
Maxey had his second-best scoring performance of the ongoing season after detonating for 43 points built from an efficient 15/26 shooting from the field including four three-pointers and a perfect 9/9 from the charity stripe.
Backstopping Maxey in the win was Oubre, who put up a solid 20-point outing alongside eight rebounds and five assists.
On the other hand, James led the Lakers with a near triple-double effort of 31 markers, nine assists, and eight rebounds, while rookie Dalton Knecht added 24 points and five rebounds.
