Yabusele's spark, poor perimeter defense highlight Sixers' loss to Lakers

The 76ers’ perimeter defense needs a lot of work. Guerschon Yabusele has been one of the team’s best free-agent acquisitions. And Eric Gordon didn’t see the floor. Those three things stood out in the Sixers’ 116-106 loss at the Los Angeles Lakers to conclude a three-game West Coast road trip.

Perimeter defense woes

The Sixers' three-point defense was ranked the second worst in the NBA heading into Friday’s game. Their first seven opponents combined to shoot 39.5% from deep. So you figured the Lakers would try to take advantage of that.

The Lakers exploited the Sixers' weakness and were extremely successful in doing so. Los Angeles made five of its first seven three-pointers en route to shooting 45.7% (16-of-35) from deep on Friday night.

Yabusele's impact

The "Dancing Bear" Yabusele has made a solid impact for the Sixers as their current backup center. Against the Lakers, the 6-foot-8, 265-pounder had 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, including making 3 of 4 three-pointers.

11 of his 14 total points came on his 4-for-4 shooting in the first half. This performance comes after Yabusele had career highs of 19 points and five three-pointers earlier this week. He’ll likely move to power forward, his natural position, when Joel Embiid makes his season debut on Tuesday against the Charlotte Hornets.

No Gordon

Gordon did not play, a coach’s decision, for the first time this season. Instead, guards Ricky Council IV and Reggie Jackson were the newcomers to the Sixers rotation. Jackson, a point guard, replaced an injured Tyrese Maxey.

KJ Martin also got some of the minutes that Gordon would have received. This comes after Gordon scored one point on 0-for-2 shooting in Wednesday’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. He's averaged 5.5 points while shooting a combined 3-for-8 in his last two games.