The Lakers were back in action on Tuesday night as they faced off against one of the best teams in the East, the Philadelphia 76ers. Coming off of a nice win against the Suns, the Lakers were looking to build off that performance. Already without LeBron James and Lonzo Ball, forward Kyle Kuzma did not dress for the second straight game, so Luke Walton opted for the same starting lineup: Brandon Ingram, Rajon Rondo, Ivica Zubac, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Michael Beasley. Staples Center was packed with celebs and yours truly, but the Lakers clearly did not get the message.
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1/29/19 — The game opened up with the Lakers winning the tip, but the turned it over within 15 seconds, leading to a Ben Simmons alley-oop for the opening points of the game. Rondo answered with a floater, but JJ Redick popped a three, followed by a Simmons turnaround, and he got fouled (made the FT). The Sixers saw something in the Lakers offense and they started a fullcourt press, and Lakers would turn it over again, this time off the inbound, resulting in two Embiid free throws to give the 76ers an early 10-2 lead with 9:41 left. KCP missed a layup and the Sixers came down and scored, leading by 10 now. Embiid would score again before Brandon Ingram made a tip shot, ending the 76ers run. The Lakers looked like they didn’t want to be out on the floor for the first few minutes, prompting Luke to burn two timeouts and to bring in the bench midway through the quarter … amid boos from the Staples Center crowd. The Lakers would almost get run off the floor in the first, getting outscored 39-20 and turning the ball over 9 times. Ingram scored 7 points, but had three turnovers and did not look great at times in the quarter.
Joel Embiid started the scoring off with a fadeaway, and the Lakers turned it over again (number 10), resulting in two more free throws for Embiid. After a few misses, JaVale McGee would score on a tip-in, but Embiid answered right back, keeping the 76ers lead at 23. Josh Hart pushed the tempo and scored a layup on Embiid, but the Sixers popped a three to lead by 48-24 with 8:14 left. The Lakers would then rip off a 16-0 run in 3 minutes to trail 48-40. Brandon Ingram scored 9 of the 16 to get the Lakers, and the crowd going, who were dead in the water. The Lakers used some big-time slam dunks to reenergize Staples, including a big one by Brandon Ingram. The 76ers responded nicely and pushed the lead back up to 14 after a three by Embiid, but the Lakers did not go away and trailed by 11 at the half, 53-64. Brandon Ingram led the way with 22 in the first half, while Embiid had 16 points for the Sixers.
After a poor first quarter and a good second quarter, the Lakers took the floor to start the second half. Embid backed down Zubac and got fouled, resulting in two more made FT’s for Embiid. Michael Beasley would answer for the Lakers, followed by a KCP floater to bring it under 10, but Redick would answer that, keeping the Sixers up 11. In a good back-and-forth battle, Ingram would hit a jumper, Ben Simmons then scored four straight points to counter, but BI hit another pull up to try and keep the Lakers close. However, Redick would hit a three on the next possession, extending the Sixers lead to 14. The Sixers would push the lead back to as many as 16 before Ingram scored to stop the bleeding with 7:11 left, trailing 66-80. The Lakers made a push, as KCP hit a three to bring the Lakers within nine points, 71-80 with 5:48 left in the third … but the Sixers closed the quarter strong, using key shots from Embiid to lead 96-81 after three.
In the final quarter, Ben Simmons opened up the scoring with a slam dunk, pushing the lead to 17. McGee would tip in a Rondo miss to get the Lakers on the board, and Lance then hit a three to make it a 12-point game. Could it be true? Could the Lakers comeback? Embiid would hit 1/2 free throws, and then Josh Hart popped a three to make it a 10-point game. COULD IT BE TRUE?!? Turns out it couldn’t, as the Lakers went cold, and the Sixers pushed the lead back to 17 with 5:16 left. A scary moment for the Sixers happened in the fourth, as Joel Embiid went down after a missed alley-oop, clutching his back. After spending some time in the locker room, Embiid came back into the game with 4:05 left, which is great news. He’s a great player and no one wants to see him hurt. The Lakers kept on coming though, as Brandon Ingram would not stop shooting it and making it. Ingram hit a pull-up to bring the Lakers within nine, but the Sixers would score back-to-back buckets to seal the game. Lakers lose at home, 105-121. Brandon Ingram led all scorers with 36 points, while Rondo had 11 assists for the second straight game.
The Lakers fall to 26-25 and remain 9th in the West, 2 games behind the Clippers. The Lakers fall to 18-17 in conference play, and 6-11 without LeBron James. The Lakers are back in action tomorrow as they play their rival, the LA Clippers.
Next Game: Thursday, Jan 31, 7:30 PM @ Clippers (28-23)
TV: Spectrum SportsNet, Radio: 710ESPN
Top Performers
Brandon Ingram (LAL)
36 pts, 16-20 FG, 5 reb, 5 ast
Joel Embiid (PHI)
28 pts, 7-16 FG, 11 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk
Game Notes
- Brandon Ingram scored a career-high 36 points on 16-20 shooting and did not attempt a three-pointer.
- JaVale McGee got a double-double off the bench, scoring 17 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
- The Lakers shot 75% from the free throw line! What a win!
- After being outscored by 19 in the 1st, the Lakers outscored the Sixers by 3 for the final three quarters.
- Kyle Kuzma did not play for the second straight game due to a hip injury. He is listed as day-to-day.
- LeBron James is practicing with the team but has not been cleared to play.
- Full Box Score available on NBA.com
- Photos are courtesy of Lakers.com & Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images
Box Score
| Teams | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
 |
39 | 25 | 32 | 25 | 121 |
 |
20 | 33 | 28 | 24 | 105 |
Los Angeles Lakers (26-25)
| Players | MP | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | +/- |
| B. Ingram* | 39 | 36 | 5 | 5 | 16-20 | 0-0 | -14 |
| M. Beasley* | 10 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 2-6 | 0-0 | -13 |
| I. Zubac* | 17 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2-5 | 0-0 | -12 |
| K. Caldwell-Pope* | 26 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 5-10 | 2-5 | -19 |
| R. Rondo* | 36 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 2-8 | 1-1 | -11 |
| J. Hart | 35 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4-10 | 1-5 | +4 |
| S. Mykhailiuk | 28 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3-11 | 1-7 | +4 |
| J. McGee | 27 | 17 | 14 | 1 | 7-12 | 0-0 | +1 |
| L. Stephenson | 16 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 2-8 | 2-5 | -13 |
| T. Chandler | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | -5 |
| M. Wagner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | -1 |
| A. Caruso | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | -1 |
| K. Kuzma | DNP | ||||||
| LAL TOTALS | 240 | 105 | 49 | 26 | 43/91 47% | 7/23 30% | +16 |
* = Starter
West Standings
| Rk | Team | Record | PCT | GB | STRK | L10 |
| 1 | Warriors | 36-14 | .720 | – | W11 | 10-0 |
| 2 | Nuggets | 34-15 | .694 | 1½ | W3 | 7-3 |
| 3 | Thunder | 32-18 | .640 | 4 | W6 | 7-3 |
| 4 | Blazers | 31-20 | .608 | 5½ | W2 | 7-3 |
| 5 | Rockets | 29-21 | .580 | 7 | L1 | 6-4 |
| 6 | Spurs | 30-22 | .577 | 7 | W3 | 6-4 |
| 7 | Jazz | 29-22 | .569 | 7½ | W3 | 9-1 |
| 8 | Clippers | 28-23 | .549 | 8½ | L1 | 4-6 |
| 9 | Lakers | 26-25 | .510 | 10½ | L1 | 4-6 |
| 10 | Kings | 25-25 | .500 | 11 | L1 | 5-5 |
For full standings, please visit NBA.com.
Brandon Rosenthal is a writer, podcast host/producer, and an avid sports fan since the early 1990’s. He has been covering the NBA since 2016 for the30minutelunchbreak.com. You can view all of his posts and articles, and follow him on Twitter.
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