by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com
The Philadelphia 76ers (29-21) continue their 5-game West Coast swing against the Los Angeles Lakers (30-19) tonight at crypto.com Arena. This is the second and final regular season meeting between two of the NBA’s most storied franchises — they’ve met in the NBA Finals four times (1980, 1982, 1983, 2001). The Lakers picked up a 112-108 victory at Philadelphia in the first matchup on Dec. 7.
Los Angeles is a 4-point favorite and the total is 231.5.
WHAT BOTH TEAMS DID IN THEIR PREVIOUS GAME
Philadelphia cruised to a 113-94 win against the short-handed Golden State Warriors on the road two days ago. The 76ers took control of the contest in the second half, outscoring the Warriors 55-39. Golden State was missing its superstar guard Stephen Curry, who sat out with a right knee injury. Philadelphia played without its star center Joel Embiid, who was out with a right ankle injury.
Rookie VJ Edgecombe scored a game-high 25 points (11-20 FG, 2-7 3Pt, 1-2 FT) and added 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals in 40 minutes for the 76ers. Trendon Watford added 16 points (7-13 FG, 1-2 3Pt, 1-2 FT), 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks in 27 minutes off the bench. Eight players scored in double figures for Philadelphia in the win.
The 76ers have won a season-high five games in a row. They are 2-0 on their five-game West Coast road trip. They’ll travel to Phoenix and Portland after tonight’s contest in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles crushed the Brooklyn Nets 125-109 on the road on Tuesday night. The Lakers hammered the Nets early and often opening up a 69-40 lead at halftime. They held a 39-point lead (83-44) early in the third quarter. LeBron James dropped a game-high 25 points (10-16 FG, 0-3 3Pt, 5-7 FT), along with 7 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals across 30 minutes. Luka Doncic added 24 points (8-18 FG, 4-11 3Pt, 4-6 FT), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and a steal in 29 minutes.
The victory over Brooklyn concluded an 8-game road trip for the Lakers. They finished 5-3 on the trip. Tonight’s contest against Philadelphia begins an 8-game homestand for Los Angeles.
GAME STORYLINES: PHILADELPHIA
After seven straight seasons making the playoffs, the Philadelphia 76ers plummeted to a woeful 24-58 last season. It was the 76ers’ worst finish since going 10-72 in 2015-16. A plethora of injuries were the biggest reason for Philadelphia’s horrible season in 2025.
A lingering knee injury sidelined superstar center Joel Embiid for the first 9 games of the 2024-25 season. He returned to play in only 19 games before being shut down for the remainder of the season in February 2025. All Star guard Tyrese Maxey (28 games missed) and Paul George (41 games missed) were also sidelined for significant amounts of time due to injuries. The talented trio was expected to carry the 76ers last season.
Philadelphia’s terrible season in 2024-25 landed them in the draft lottery for the first time since 2017. They ended up with the third overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft and selected athletic Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe. The addition of Edgecombe, along with a relatively healthy ‘Big Three’ of Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and Paul George, has led to a big turnaround from the 76ers this season. Philadelphia already surpassed last season’s win total (24) on Jan. 25.
The availability and prolific productivity from the dynamic duo of All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey (28.9 pts, 6.8 asts, 4.2 reb, 2 stls, 3.4 threes, 47.1% from 2, 39% from 3 in 48 gms) and center Joel Embiid (26.1 pts, 7.4 rebs, 3.8 asts, 1.1 blks, 1.2 threes, 48.8% from 2 in 29 gms) has been the catalyst to Philadelphia’s resurgence this season. The 25-year-old Maxey’s 28.9 ppg is a career-high. The fans voted him in as an All-Star game starter. Embiid is back to resembling his All-NBA form after getting off to a slow start at the beginning of the season.
The aforementioned rookie VJ Edgecombe (15.1 ppg, 5.3 rebs, 4.3 asts, 1.5 stls in 46 gms) and Paul George (16 ppg, 5.1 rebs in 27 gms), along with veteran swingman Kelly Oubre Jr. (14.2 ppg, 4.6 rebs, 1.1 stls in 28 gms) and guard Quentin Grimes (13 ppg, 3.7 asts, 1 stls in 46 gms) have all been terrific this season in complimentary roles alongside Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid. Edgecombe ranks third amongst rookies in points per game.
The 76ers were dealt a tough blow when Paul George was suspended 25 games for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy on Jan. 31. George will be eligible to return on March 25. The 76ers will lean on Kelly Oubre Jr. and Quentin Grimes to replace George’s production.
GAME STORYLINES: LOS ANGELES
A little over a year ago (Feb. 2, 2025), the Los Angeles shocked the sports and non-sports world when they traded All-Star center Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for All-World forward Luka Doncic. Davis was pivotal in the Lakers winning the 2020 NBA title in his first season with the team. But the Lakers never came close to winning a title over the next four seasons with Davis which led to him being shipped out.
Interesting enough, Dallas traded Anthony Davis to the struggling Washington Wizards yesterday. This makes one wonder what was Dallas’ plan when they traded their franchise-player Luka Doncic — who had just led Dallas to the NBA Finals 8 months prior — for Davis a year ago? Surely, it wasn’t to trade him for 50 cents on the dollar one year later in what looked to be a salary dump?
In the one calendar year that Luka Doncic has been paired with LeBron James, the results have been somewhat underwhelming up to this point. While Doncic has maintained his stellar level of play (NBA-leading 33.4 pts, 8.7 asts, 7.9 rebs, 3.6 threes, 47.5% from 2 in 41 gms this season), the Lakers have yet to establish themselves as a championship-level team. They were thumped in 5 games (4-1) by the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs last year, and they’ve been a middle-of-the-pack Western Conference playoff team this year.
Despite adding Deandre Ayton (13.5 ppg, 8.5 rebs, 1 blk, 67.4% from 2 in 44 gms) and Marcus Smart in the offseason to address their rebounding and defensive woes — that were glaring in their postseason loss to Minnesota last season, the Lakers are still having these issues this season. They enter tonight’s game with a very good 30-19 record (6th seed in the West) but just 1.5 games separate the No. 3 seed from the No.8 seed in the loaded Western Conference, so the margin of error is small for the Lakers, who still appear to be a flawed team due to poor defense and rebounding.
The Lakers could get a boost from the recent return of emerging superstar wing Austin Reaves who had been out since Dec. 25 with a right calf strain. Reaves made his return in the Lakers’ last game at Brooklyn. He finished with 15 points (3-9 FG, 1-5 3Pt, 8-10 FT) in 21 minutes off the bench. Reaves was averaging a career-high 26.6 ppg before going down with the injury. If Reaves can mesh with Luka Doncic and LeBron James — which wasn’t necessarily the case before his injury — they have a chance to go far in the Western Conference playoffs.
THE PICK: 76ERS (+4)
Philadelphia is playing their best ball of the season, and I expect they’ll get a big boost by the return of their superstar center Joel Embiid. Take the Points and the 76ers tonight!
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