In keeping with their porous start to he 2024-25 season, the Philadelphia 76ers once again outdid themselves for all the wrong reasons last night, falling to the Lakers on the road to tally another loss en route to a 1-7 record, good for dead last not only in the Eastern Conference, but also in the entire association.
The 76ers, now missing Tyrese Maxey to injury, managed to keep the game at a respectable distance, but failed to muster enough juice to pull the rug from under the hosts. Los Angeles, led by their dynamic duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, led the Lakers to a dub as Philly continues its downward spiral.
But as uneventful the game may have been for the 76ers, the Lakers had all the reason to double down on their attention to this game thanks to a controversial decision they made shortly before the match.
76ers help validate controversial Lakers decision with awful showing
Prior to LA taking on Philly, new Lakers head coach JJ Redick made the stunning decision to bench guard D’Angelo Russell and start the game with Cam Reddish, effectively touting an opening group lacking a conventional point guard.
Russell notably drew the ire of the rookie tactician in their previous game, which culminated in him getting relegated to the second unit. But as if their 76ers can’t give any more freebies this season, they played the role of vindicator last night.
Thanks to some awful perimeter defense (or lack thereof) shown by the visitors, the Lakers drained a season-high 16 three-pointers on 45.7 percent conversion rate, their second-best mark this season. The 76ers failed to show any resistance from the perimeter, and even an LA team not known for being filled with gunslingers managed to thrash them from behind the arc.
Russell in particular excelled off the bench, registeing 18 points and three dimes in just 25 minutes of gameplay. Philly lacked enough stoppers in the backcourt to slow him down, making the Lakers look like a genius with their role realignment for the one-time All-Star.
With Maxey out of commission for the next week or so, the 76ers have to step up not only offensively, but also defensively. While Maxey is nowhere near a defensive savant, the team’s remaining guardds have no shot at replacing his offenisve production. To compensate, they will need to show their prowess on the less glamorous end of the floor.
Unfortunately, their first test without him thoroughly failed, as they only validated what was initially pegged as an overreaction from the Lakers.