Tyrese Maxey scored 43 points as the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers used a dominant second quarter to power a 118-104 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, extending their winning streak to three games.
LeBron James amassed 31 points, eight rebounds and nine assists for the Lakers, who lost star center Anthony Davis in the first quarter to an abdominal strain.
Kelly Oubre Jr. added 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the 76ers won without Paul George, sidelined due to a finger injury, and Joel Embiid, who hasn’t played since Jan. 4 due to knee injury management.
Philadelphia’s Ricky Council IV put up 16 points while Eric Gordon and Guerschon Yabusele each added 14.
Maxey has scored at least 28 points in each of his past 11 games, and he hit 30 points in six of those contests.
Rookie Dalton Knecht scored 24 points and Austin Reaves added 13 points and eight assists for Los Angeles, which gave up 27 points on 22 turnovers.
Lakers rookie Bronny James saw time in each half and was held scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting in 15 minutes.
With the Lakers playing on the second night of a back-to-back and the 76ers playing on the opening night of their own back-to-back, the teams were even 25-25 after one quarter.
Without Davis to anchor the Lakers’ defense in the second quarter, Philadelphia scored 48 points to take a 73-57 lead into halftime. It was the 76ers’ largest output in a half this season as they received 27 points from Maxey and shot 57.1 percent from the floor as a team.
Los Angeles was held to 19 points in the third quarter as Philadelphia expanded its lead to 99-76. Maxey had 41 points through three quarters, reaching 40 for the third time this season.
Davis departed one night after he scored 42 points and pulled down 23 rebounds in a victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Los Angeles fell to 4-2 on the second night of a back-to-back sets.
The Sixers are on their longest winning streak since winning four consecutive from Dec. 23-30. Embiid played in all four of those contests. Philadelphia was 1-8 to begin Embiid’s latest absence before the current three-game run.
–Field Level Media
