LeBron James’ decline on full display in Lakers’ loss to 76ers

Remember when the Los Angeles Lakers had two sets of three-game winning streaks that extended to eight out of ten wins? Well, life comes at you hard in the NBA, as the Lake Show took their talents to Philadelphia to face the 76ers and their superstar Joel Embiid. It hasn’t been the best of weeks for the purple and gold, starting with Anthony Davis catching flu-like symptoms that kept him out all but eight minutes in a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Then LeBron James and Patrick Beverley joined AD on the sidelines and watched the rest of the roster get run out of the gym against the Toronto Raptors. With the Boston Celtics coming up on Tuesday, the Lakers needed to start stacking up some wins quickly.

Look, this is a Los Angeles Lakers website, but we talk basketball too. The Philadelphia 76ers were an embarrassment to the NBA, ESPN, and Dr. Naismith with how they played the final 12 minutes.

• They found themselves in the penalty, basically sponsoring a Lakers parade to the free-throw line.
• Anthony Davis absolutely exploded with 22 points in the final quarter.
• James Harden has cemented himself as one of the most overrated and overpaid players in the NBA.
• They blew a get this… 9-point lead with…stay with us now…29 seconds.
• Austin Reaves was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with the Lakers down three.
• Then, when he missed one, Anthony Davis stole the inbound pass and was fouled to go back to the free-throw line. 
• All told, the Sixers blew an 18-point lead and the game went to overtime.  

Now… after all of this the Lakers blew two free throws by AD and Reaves and the air went out of the balloon as the Lakers lost in overtime 133-122. God bless these dudes for trying and exposing Doc Rivers as the next coach to be fired this season. The Lakers are now on a three-game losing streak and they better beat Detroit this weekend.

Before the analysis begins, Patrick Beverley has cemented himself as the most ridiculous circus act since Dennis Rodman donned a 73 uniform. He was the only one to score a basket in the extra session but received a technical foul for a delay of game.

But he’ll be in the starting lineup the next game…in the famous words of Charles Barkley… GUARANTEED!

Russell Westbrook gets a triple-double (12 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists with 4 steals!) and will STILL be on the bench. Make all of these rotations make sense.

The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:

Man, Austin Reaves put on a show in the second quarter! 

After Joel Embiid put in a bid of ownership for the Lakers franchise in the first quarter (More on that later!), Austin Reaves broke out his mini-slump in a major way. He dropped 15 points on an absurd 6-7 shooting, scoring in every way a player can put the ball in the basket. Oh, he also found time to hand out 3 assists. This is just the first half folks.

In the second half, he exploded late to get the Lakers into overtime. He missed that free throw late, but really who cares? LeBron James missed so many 3-pointers and free throws, this writer does not want to read Reaves slander at this point from LeBron maniacs. Ham is running plays for Reaves in crunch time and not LeBron. Stop it!

Austin finished with 25 points, 5 assists and 2 steals.

But…Patrick…Beverley…is…still…the…starter…

If not for Reaves, this is a totally different post-game report. But he sparked an offensive explosion of epic proportions to avoid this game being a blowout and helped extend the game five minutes.

The Los Angeles Lakers hit (Checks notes)…13 shots in a row!

Let that sink in! If that doesn’t tell Lakers fans that Darvin Ham and the coaching staff have put together a credible offensive scheme, nothing will. In the first half, the Lakers shot 56 percent from the field, 50 percent from the land of the extra point and 78 percent from the line. This was not all from the stars either. Everyone got in on this offensive party!

The second quarter alone? Over 80 PERCENT!!!!!!!!!!! But the Lakers were STILL down by two points at halftime.

Anthony Davis…oh that’s it!

This dude has some serious heart. Dude is still sick, had a sore left arm and worked the entire Sixers organization in the final 12 minutes. He finished with 31 points (9-13 shooting, 13-4 from the line!) 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. If this guy was not in foul trouble, double all of this. Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss should be at this man’s doorstep at midnight the second this team can give him a max deal extension.

The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:

Joel Embiid’s first half!

Film don’t lie!

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1601395047295250433

Joel controlled the game with a stat line of 38 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists.

Anthony Davis got in foul trouble! 

Now the Embiid explosion makes a little bit more sense. He drew three fouls in seven minutes in the first half. He had his fourth early in the third quarter. Then he injured his left arm or wrist late in the third quarter.

Basically, you get the theme of AD’s challenges that he overcame in this game.

For the record, Anthony Davis is still having an out-of-body experience offensively. It bears repeating that he still dropped 31 points.

De’Anthony Melton hurt the Lakers in the third quarter and closed them out late!

Welcome to another episode of “Role Players that the Los Angeles Lakers Turn Into All-Stars!” Melton was brought into Philly from Memphis in a trade for Danny Green (Remember Him?). He scored half of the Sixers’ 32 points with 16. Most on wide-open 3-point shots.

Melton finished with 33 points, 4 rebounds and 7 steals. This guy saved Philly folks. Don’t let Harden’s box score fool you.

The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:

LeBron James…

This website always claimed that we have the smartest readers on the internet. Let’s find a reader comment to illustrate the listless performance of LeBron James and the front office that will eventually extend him again for $110 million over two years after THIS contract that pays him $97.1 million over two years at this moment…

Eroc:

"Veterans on their last seasons typically pick and choose when they want to play hard. It’s all part of aging. Trust me, it accelerates after 40. I’m not sure the FO knows what they got themselves into when they signed him to that 2 year $50 mil.+ per season extension. I guess they’re thinkin’, just like with Kobe’s last years, they’ll sell more tickets and Lakers’ merch if they roll out the ol’ superstar even if he’s unable or unwilling to give it his all."

LeBron continued his goal…(Oops odyssey!) to the scoring record with 23 points on 9-22 shooting. He was terrible from beyond the arc, terrible from the free throw line, and disappeared at times on defense (AKA yelling at his teammates for missed rotations!).

The decline is here Los Angeles Lakers fans. The staff of Lake Show Life just said it first.

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