The Philadelphia 76ers continued to hurt without their entire big three players and the Los Angeles Lakers extended the team’s miserable start to 1-7 in a 116-106 win Friday night on the West Coast.
Paul George scored nine points for the Sixers, and rookie Jared McCain had 18 points in the Sixers’ fifth straight loss.
Former league MVP Joel Embiid was serving the second game of his three-game suspension for pushing a newspaper columnist while All-Star was the security guard Tyrese Maxey missed his first game with a hamstring injury That will keep him out for at least two weeks.
LeBron James had 21 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds in his second triple-double of the season.
Anthony Davis scored 31 points, Austin Reaves had 20 and D’Angelo Russell added 18 in reserve for the Lakers, who remained undefeated this season at Crypto.com Arena in their return from a 1-4 trip.
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James, 39, recorded his 114th career triple-double early in the fourth quarter.
James has recorded seven triple-doubles since passing Tim Duncan a year ago, becoming the second-oldest player in NBA history to accomplish the feat. Karl Malone was 40 years and 127 days old when he became the oldest player to record a triple-double in November 2003.
Bronny James played the final in 1:28.
76ers: Winning without Embiid and Maxey seems extremely difficult, and the Sixers couldn’t defend enough to stay competitive.
Lakers: Cam Reddish replaced Russell in the starting lineup and rookie coach JJ Redick’s strategy seemed to be working. The erratic Russell played comfortably and aggressively as a reserve.
Philadelphia erased an early 13-point deficit shortly before halftime, but the Lakers went on an 8-0 run into the intermission and a 10-0 surge shortly afterward to take the lead.
The Lakers host Toronto on Sunday evening. The 76ers return home to face Charlotte on Sunday night.
