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Lakers Snap Eight-Game Skid and Never Trail In Win Against Sixers

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The national nightmare is over! Okay, not really a national nightmare but the Lakers finally win a game for the first time in the month of December. The Lakers beat the lowly Sixers, 100-89. L.A. got off to a 13-0 start and never lost the lead.

It’s not a pretty game by any means but the Lakers did answer to Luke Walton’s challenge. He said that the players were “mentally soft” after their disappointing loss against the Nets.

The Lakers were energized on both ends of the court early. L.A.’s defense led to a lot of transition plays (27 fastbreak points by the Lakers compared to 8 by the Sixers). And the ball movement that was lacking during the losing streak showed up mostly in the first half. The Sixers struggled to shoot from the field and the Lakers led by double digits going into the second half.

L.A. boosted the lead to 22 in the third quarter before everything that plagued them during that losing skid returned to them. The Sixers went on a 9-0 run to end the third and the deficit was down to 10 points. Philly got it down to seven twice but timely buckets by Jordan Clarkson, Luol Deng, and Julius Randle snuffed the rally. The Lakers would hold on despite a mostly lackluster fourth quarter.

We had some good balanced scoring from the Lakers as there were five players in double figures. Randle scored a season-best 25 points to go along with 9 boards, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Lou Williams continues to score well off the bench with 18 points. D’Angelo Russell (15 points) didn’t shoot well but he rebounded well (7 rebounds), made the offense go, and was telling his teammates their spots on defense. Nick Young (15 points) only played 21 minutes but he continues his good play on both ends of the court. Jordan Clarkson (10 points, 4/9 from the field) has struggled in the losing streak and he’s trying to shoot his way back, which has been detrimental to the team’s ball movement. Larry Nance grabbed 11 boards and was all over the court. And welcome back, Tarik Black, even if you only played 205 seconds.

The Sixers don’t have much offensively but we know how talented Joel Embiid is. He had 15 points to lead Philly. But Philly only shot 36 percent from the field (they went 6 for 31, .194, from three). They were scrappy enough to cut into that 22-point lead so you have to give them credit for that.

But at least, the Lakers finally snapped their eight-game skid. The NBA doesn’t stop, though, as they play the world champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in about 20 and a half hours. They should take note and build on this win against the Sixers. No one is expecting them to beat the champs on the road but we want to see the fighting spirit and the ball movement that defined the Lakers in their first 20 games. Maybe Luke did wake the team up a bit.

Even if it was a bit scary, good win by the Lakers.

(Also, rest in peace, Craig Sager. #SagerStrong forever.)


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. DieTryin says

    First, very nice to break in to the win column again. I don’t care if it’s against arguably the worst team in the league. We just needed to do something about the bad mojo. They got off to a strong start instead of playing catchup after all the sluggish 1st quarters we’ve seen this year. And Randle was in beast mode.
    And as if we needed any more about why Boogie is not a fit here…for all of his basketball gifts he is severely lacking between the ears. This article from his home town paper is very revealing and also shows what a hot mess the Kings are as an organization:
    http://sacb.ee/8d1j

  2. LKK says

    @Die Tryin…
    That was really an interesting insight into Cousin’s demeanor and personality. Sounds like he has anger management issues. Let the buyer beware. He’s rapidly becoming his own worst enemy. Definitely not the type of player to build a team around. He had another meltdown Friday night against Memphis.

  3. DieTryin says

    LKK- No kidding. I thought the description of him as a “bully” with not only the press but his own coaches and players was apt. George Karl had him pegged early on but it appears that he is now allowed to run loose by management. I expect that Sacramento will continue to try and trade him but his market value is declining.

  4. LordMo says

    His market value is declining based upon what? Your opinion? He is one of the best players in the league stuck on a perennial loser with like 30 owners. There is no end in sight to the dysfunction that is the Kings. If that was your work environment you would be pretty surly too. Nothing wrong with Cousins that a change of scenery won’t fix.

  5. LKK says

    @LordMo…
    Cousins may be good enough that some team would be willing to gut its roster to acquire him. However that doesn’t give him the right to intimidate media members who are doing their job. He knew that dysfunction of Sacramento’s organization when he accepted their money. He’s a bad actor, plain and simple. He’s blessed to be privileged and extremely well compensated at his job; a job which also provides him a platform to influence the segment of fans who look up to NBA players. There are two sides to every story. Maybe he does good things in his life that don’t receive the same publicity that his public penchant for confrontation and anger does. It’s still hard to give him a pass for all the negativity he’s been associated with.

  6. LordMo says

    LKK

    Yup totally bad guy! There is no rule saying that a pro athlete has to live up to your or any of our standards. He is duly compensated for his skills not privileged but talented. I’m sure you are duly compensated for yours right? I’m sure there has been a time or two when you did not get along work someone in your work environment. It is just that you do not have a ton of reporters following your every move. It is not the first time Cousins and the reporter have been at it. I’m sure it won’t be the last nor is he the first player to not get along with the media.

    http://www.demarcuscousins.com/charity/

    http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/flush-contract-extension-demarcus-cousins-donates-1-million-132130234–nba.html

  7. LKK says

    @LordMo..
    As I said before, there are 2 sides to every story. Cousins is a work in progress like all of us. He needs to be more professional about his job IMO. We’ll have to agree to disagree on that.

  8. KevTheBold says

    LordMo 
    Though his off court beneficence is admirable..it’s his nba personality which I have issues with.
    The argumentative, adversarial, vindictive and dishonest  displays are imo something which has nothing to do with his team, but his character.
    I have never seen a player change his character spots by changing cities, thus I hope he never ends up coming here.

  9. LordMo says

    I understand Philly is stocking assets but that has to be the worst coaching in the world.
    At no time would I have Embiid and Okafor on the floor together. The best post players in the world do you no good when your perimeter players are totally garbage. They really do need to make a trade and get a new coach because their current one has no clue.

  10. KevTheBold says

    LordMo 
    MWP and Cousins are two different stories.
    One had a rage problem, the other is a conniving cancer. 
    For example the last time we played the Kings, Cousins does two deliberate judo take downs of Randle, just because JR didn’t back down to him last game, plus, we were winning.
    Then after Walton got thrown, {because of Cousins}, he started arguing with Shaw.
    As for his 30 points, the cost is much too high. The most important person on a team is the coach, and no coach worth being a coach, could coexist with Boogie.
    As for D’Angelo, your crystal ball is jaded.