76ers Down Lakers 118-104 Behind Impressive Night From Tyrese Maxey
Dec 23, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) reacts to his three pointer in the closing moments of the game against the San Antonio Spurs at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Tyrese Maxey have a night. The Philadelphia 76ers picked up their third win in a row Tuesday night, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 118-104, behind a 43-point performance from Tyrese Maxey. It’s the eighth time in his career that Maxey has scored 40 points or more.
Besides Maxey, Many other 76ers players provided impressive showings in the win with Kelly Oubre Jr. finishing with 20 points, eight rebounds, and five assists while Guerschon Yabusele and Eric Gordon both added 14 points and Ricky Council IV scored 16 points off the bench.
For the Lakers, LeBron James led the way with 31 points eight rebounds, and nine assists, just missing a triple-double in what could be his final game played in Philadelphia. Dalton Knecht was impressive off the bench for the Lakers scoring 24 points, drilling five threes.
As the game tipped off, both teams struggled to knock down an opening basket until James put in a two-footer to open the scoring. Austin Reaves added to that with a layup and James slammed one home to make it 6-0 early. Yabusele got the 76ers on the board with a dunk, and Maxey followed that up with a long three-pointer, but Anthony Davis answered right away with back-to-back buckets.
Rui Hachimura then knocked down two straight buckets but the 76ers battled back with Maxey and Yabusele trading shots back and forth, with Yabusele slamming down an emphatic dunk.
OH MY GOODNESS YABU 😳 #76ers pic.twitter.com/OnfeuGi4mU
— Philly Sports Reports (@PhlySprtsReprts) January 29, 2025
With just over two minutes to go in the first quarter, Maxey went on a huge scoring run to cut down the Lakers’ lead. He scored eight straight points for the 76ers, four on free throws, and four more on mid-range jumpers to tie the game. As the final seconds ticked down, James added two points from a pair of free throws, however, Yabusele put back a missed three from Maxey just before the final buzzer sounded to end the quarter tied at 25.
In the second quarter, a 76ers player not named Yabusele or Maxey drilled a shot to open the quarter as Gordon knocked down a long three-pointer and, after a layup from Reeves, Gordon went right back to the other ending end getting an and-one layup.
Up by six, Adem Bona added on with a dunk, but Hachimura fired back with a mid-ranger and Dalton Knecht drilled three free throws to make it a one-score game. Oubre Jr. finally got going scoring three straight shots for the 76ers. However, after making the free throws, Knecht stayed hot drilling back-to-back shots, and after a three from Maxey, Knecht then drilled a pair of threes to make it 53-46 Philadelphia.
The threes kept falling for the Lakers as Hachimura added on with one, and Christian Koloko and James knocked down buckets to cut their deficit to five. The 76ers responded hitting threes of their own with Gordon drilling his second of the night and Ricky Council IV draining his first. With just over a minute until the half, Coucill knocked down shots making a driving layup and another three to make it 73-57 76ers at the half.
At the start of the second half, Yabusele, who missed part of the second quarter with a knee injury, slammed a dunk to open up the scoring. James and Maxey traded twos, but Max Christie and Dorian Finney-Smith drilled back-to-back threes. Maxey continued to ride his impressive night, hitting two more threes and Justin Edwards one of his own, to increase the 76ers’ lead to 19.
Hachimura and Reeves both hit twos, but Gordon knocked down a long three, and Maxey and Oubre hit mid-range shots. Maxey continued to add to his impressive performance hitting back-to-back twos to make it 99-76 76ers after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, James attempted to start a comeback scoring all seven of the Lakers’ points to kick off the quarter, however, two baskets from Oubre and a ferocious slam dunk from Council kept the 76ers out in front. James continued to provide the only scoring for the Lakers scoring the next eight points for them, for 15 points in the fourth quarter alone, but the 76ers to answer back.
Oubre knocked down a pair of twos, Council drilled another three, and Maxey scored another bucket to give him 43 points on the night. With the 76ers up 19 and just under four minutes to play, Nick Nurse began emptying his bench. However, Knecht didn’t hear a bell and knocked down back-to-back threes and a dunk to cut their deficit to 12, but as time ran out the 76ers dribbled out the clock to beat the Lakers 118-104.
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Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
