For the second game on TNT tonight, the Philadelphia 76ers re-visit the Staples Center when they play the Los Angeles Lakers for the second and final time this year, tipping off at 10:00 p.m. ET.
In the last time these two teams faced off, the Sixers protected their homecourt again in a dominant 17-point victory on January 25 as Philly won 108-91, and though LeBron James became the third-highest scorer in NBA history over the late, great Kobe Bryant with a swift slash to the cup in that game’s third quarter, it wasn’t enough to cover-up one of the worst road losses of the season, and during that time they were coming off an ugly 32-point loss against Boston earlier that week.
That was then. Currently, the tables have completely turned on the injury report, as both Embiid and Simmons didn’t travel with the team during their four-game Western road trip. On the contrary as opposed to previous games, Anthony Davis is set to return from resting his sore knee, meaning that the starting five of the West’s best team will be 100 percent to go against a definitely shorthanded Sixers squad that’s likely without Josh Richardson as well due to the former Miami Heat guard suffering both a concussion and nose contusion in Philly’s late loss to the Clippers on Sunday.
Given the Sixers’ injury predicament, don’t expect LeBron James and this deep Lakers rotation to take the night off against a gritty Sixers team that uncharacteristically saw a spike in productivity from its bench. Shake Milton was the name escaping the mouths of NBA media personalities for the past couple of days, as he exploded for 39 points in the loss while also hitting a record 14 threes, a streak created in their last game against the Knicks (shot 5-of-5 from deep) and ended midway through the third. The question remains: what does Shake have for an encore?
Either way, expect a fun show of Shake isolating, LeBron and AD connecting, and the Lakers and Sixers going at it again for the final time this year.
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