How 76ers Dominated Lakers From LeBron James' Perspective
Monday’s matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers served as an important game for LeBron James. Although the NBA superstar was questionable to play, he was cleared for action, which opened up the door for him to break another NBA record for minutes played.
LeBron did exactly what was expected of him in that department, but the accomplishment was spoiled by the Sixers, who issued the future Hall of Famer the biggest loss of his career.
How did the Sixers’ major accomplishment come together?
“Three-point line,” James said to reporters after the game. “We got killed on the three-point line today.”
This season, the Sixers rank sixth in accuracy from the three-point line so far. As a team, they’ve knocked down threes at a 38.4 percent clip, excluding heaves, according to Cleaning the Glass. On Monday night, the Lakers couldn’t prevent Philly from raining shots from beyond the arc, as they drilled nearly half of their 46 attempted threes.
To no surprise, Tyrese Maxey led the way for the Sixers in the three-point scoring department. Establishing himself as one of the more consistent sharpshooters from deep over the previous few seasons, Maxey’s been much more aggressive from beyond the arc in games this year.
On Monday, the young guard led the Sixers in threes taken, launching 12 shots from deep. He knocked down five of them, marking a team-high. As for the rest of the starting lineup, De’Anthony Melton, Joel Embiid, and Nic Batum totaled five, with Tobias Harris being the only starter who didn’t join the party.
Off the bench, the Sixers were still aggressive from beyond the arc. Patrick Beverley, who has struggled with his three-point shot this season, had a stellar outing by knocking down four of his eight threes. Marcus Morris was extremely efficient, posting a near-perfect 4-5 stat line from deep.
“We got some good looks early,” Tyrese Maxey explained. “We get good looks early it’s hard to stop shooting them, and you know guys that are open, I think Marcus, he had some open shots, Pat Bev had some open threes, and we tell guys not to pass them up. I feel like we have the utmost confidence and guys shoot open three and they did tonight.”
By knocking down 15 more threes than the Lakers, the Sixers kept the game out of reach from start until finish. In the end, the Sixers handed LeBron and the Lakers a 44-point loss, issuing them their eighth of the year.
“We went with our coverages,” LeBron concluded. “They made shots, give them credit.”
