By James Ajero

 

Austin Reaves stole the spotlight with 35 points as the Los Angeles Lakers fended off the Philadelphia 76ers for a 119-115 win in an NBA cross-conference clash on Friday (PH time) at Crypto.com Arena.

 

A late 5-1 surge by the 76ers threatened to spoil the Lakers’ night, but a timely dunk from Rui Hachimura steadied Los Angeles and helped secure the victory.

 

 

The Lakers trailed by as many as 11 points in the opening period before mounting a steady comeback, eventually grabbing the lead for good on a clutch three-pointer by Reaves at the 10:46 mark of the fourth quarter.

 

From there, Los Angeles took full control, with back-to-back triples from Marcus Smart extending the lead to double digits.

 

 

Coming off the bench, Reaves also tallied five rebounds and two assists to spark the Lakers’ offense. James chipped in 17 points, while Jake LaRavia added 14 markers. Luka Doncic who left the game due to a leg injury, finished with 10 points in 16 minutes of play.

 

 

Los Angeles had to overcome a sloppy start, as turnovers proved costly early on. The Lakers committed 22 turnovers compared to just 14 for the 76ers, allowing Philadelphia to hang around despite the eventual result.

 

Joel Embiid carried the scoring load for Philadelphia with 35 points, while Tyrese Maxey contributed 26.

 

The win completed a season sweep of the 76ers for the Lakers, who also prevailed in their first regular-season meeting on December 8 last year.