With their grueling annual winter trip behind them, the Los Angeles Lakers will not get a chance to ease into familiar surroundings as the surging Philadelphia 76ers come to town Thursday.
The Lakers went 5-3 as they vacated their home arena for the Grammy Awards, although the long-awaited return of guard Austin Reaves on Tuesday was a reason to feel revived.
Out since Christmas Day, Reaves returned from a calf injury by scoring 15 points off the bench in 21 minutes of a 125-109 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. LeBron James scored 25 points in the victory, and Luka Doncic had 24 as Los Angeles scored 23 points off 20 Nets turnovers.
Reaves was just 3 of 9 from the floor, including 1 of 5 from behind the 3-point line, but he showed some pent-up aggression by getting to the free-throw line, where he went 8 of 10.
“For as long as he has been out, obviously, the No. 1 thing is rhythm and fatigue, how fast you get fatigued,” James said about Reaves, according to the Los Angeles Times. “So, it’s just a boost for all of us, especially at the end of a road trip, to get a guy like that back.”
Even on a team with stars like James and Doncic, Reaves’ presence is key for Los Angeles. He has delivered career bests in points (26.1), rebounds (5.2) and assists (6.0) this season, his fifth in Los Angeles, and has developed a strong rapport with Doncic.
“I’ve been bored for a little over a month now,” Reaves said.
He added: “It’s good to be back out there and run around, feel the energy and play the game I love.”
The 76ers increased their winning streak to a season-best five games with a 113-94 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday. Philadelphia has been in California all week, starting a five-game road trip with a 128-113 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.
With Joel Embiid out for injury management on his right knee and ankle on the second game of a back-to-back versus the Golden State Warriors, rookie VJ Edgecombe led the Sixers with 25 points, well over his 15.1 per-game average, and added seven rebounds with seven assists and two steals.
Edgecombe was just 1 of 11 from the floor against the Clippers before the 20-year-old went 11 of 20 against the Warriors.
“He does a little bit of everything,” Philadelphia head coach Nick Nurse said of the Baylor product. “He can handle, he can shoot a little, he rebounds, he can get to some non-paint two pullups, play some one-on-one, block shots. He does all of those things at kind of an above-average level.”
Leading scorer Tyrese Maxey was held to 14 points on 3-of-9 shooting against the Warriors, under his 28.9-point average, as the offense deferred to the hot shooting Edgecombe. Andre Drummond filled in at center for Embiid and scored 12 points with 12 rebounds.
The victory came as Stephen Curry sat out for the Warriors with knee soreness.
Philadelphia also dominated in the rebounding department with a 56-33 edge. The Sixers have averaged 44.7 rebounds and now face the Lakers, who are one of the worst teams in the NBA on the boards at 41 per game.
