Sixers losing streak reaches five after latest setback against Lebron James and the Lakers

LOS ANGELES — The hope was the 76ers would pull off a miracle against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Their coach implored his team to move the ball and cut down the turnovers. That the team had to “play a little harder to take up for some of these guys being gone” was what Nick Nurse stressed to the media in reference to All-Stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey being sidelined.

In the Sixers’ final game of a three-game West Coast trip, effort wasn’t an issue.

But execution?

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They got so little of that right.

The Sixers had their shots blocks 13 times, made only 13 of 39 three-pointers and shot 65.2% from the foul line. That combined with an inability to to make stops led to a 116-106 setback Friday night at Crypto.com Arena.

“We’ve got to get better, defensively,” Paul George said. “We’ve got to get stops. And then, obviously, [Anthony Davis] was a force. But it just comes down [to], especially it’s between getting stops and creating good possessions offensively. They’re a fast-paced, fast-break team and [LeBron James] is as good as it gets as far as going downhill and making plays and transitions. I thought they kind of opened the game up when it was tight, and I think that kind of propelled them to really open the game up.”

James and Davis showed why they’re two of the world’s best players. James, a four-time MVP, finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists, his second triple-double of the season. Meanwhile, Davis had 31 points and nine rebounds.

They were also doomed by another poor third-quarter offensive stretch.

The Sixers trailed, 68-64, 51 seconds into the third quarter. However, they missed six straight shots and committed a costly turnover, enabling the Lakers to go on a 10-0 run to build a 14-point cushion. The Sixers finally scored on a Caleb Martin three-pointer to make it a 78-67 score with 7:36 left in the quarter.

“I think that couple things are we do have to come out with a little bit more punch to start the third,” Nurse said. “I’m just a little afraid again that it’s kind of shutting the engines down at halftime and not getting them going again soon enough in the third a little bit. And again, we have some plays there and it just seems like we don’t make them, or we go through a drought from three as well.

“I thought we were making some pretty good decisions and getting some kick out, catch and shoot threes and a few that we didn’t hit and a few things at the rim that we didn’t finish.”

The loss extended the Sixers losing streak to five, dropping them to 1-7 on the season. It’s their worst start since opening the 2016-17 season with an identical record. That team went on to finish 28-54.

This season’s version of the Sixers are expected to finish better once they get healthy.

Embiid has yet to play due to left knee injury management followed by a three-game suspension. The 2023 NBA MVP will make his season debut in Tuesday’s NBA Cup game against the New York Knicks at the Wells Fargo Center. Meanwhile, Maxey is sidelined with a strained right hamstring. The All-Star and 2024 league Most Improved Player could be sidelined for two weeks.

But for now, the Sixers aren’t a good team.

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George was held to nine points on 4-for-13 shooting while missing all six of his three-point attempts. The nine-time All-Star did finish with a team-high eight assists and four rebounds in his third game back from his left knee bone bruise injury.

Rookie Jared McCain had arguably his best game. The 16th pick in June’s draft had 18 points while making a career-high four three-pointers to go with two assists as the seventh man. And Andre Drummond racked up his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

The Sixers will entertain the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 7 p.m.).