Sixers Nab Potential Ping Pong Balls From Lakers With 101-87 Loss

By Max Rappaport, Sixers.com

LOS ANGELES –– The Sixers entered Staples Center with a chance to do something they hadn’t done since January of last year, win three straight games. But despite Philadelphia’s recent success and the fact that they’ve won as many games in the past two weeks (4) as the Lakers have since the beginning of February, Los Angeles was too much to handle down the stretch, outscoring the Sixers by 15 in the final frame en route to a 101-87 victory.Jeremy Lin was the difference for the Lakers, finishing with 29 points in as many minutes off the bench; he scored 11 and notching three assists for another six points in the fourth quarter, directly contributing to more than half of the team’s 33 points in the final frame.

“We tried to double team with seven or six and a half minutes left and [Jeremy Lin] still found ways to score,” said head coach Brett Brown. “We tried multiple people on him. We tried to get length on him. We tried to get quickness on him, and we tried to blitz him. We searched to try to find ways to defend him, and we struggled all night.”

For the Sixers, Thomas Robinson led the way with 14 points (7/8 FG) and eight rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench. In 13 games with the Sixers, he’s averaging 18.5 points (49.0 FG%) and 17.6 rebounds per 36 minutes.

“He’s been doing that. He’s been great when you give him those few eight-minute sections and nine-minute sections when he’s not playing big minutes,” said Brown. “He gives you that energy and that toughness. He’s been good for us since he’s arrived. ”

Nerlens Noel finished with nine points (4/9 FG), seven rebounds, and a pair of blocks, Luc Mbah a Moute added 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting, and Hollis Thompson scored 10 on 4-of-7 off the pine.

Noel Fine After Poke To Eye

With 5:24 remaining in the third quarter, Nerlens Noel took an inadvertent finger to the eye while defending a shot at the rim by Tarik Black. After being attended to on the floor by head athletic trainer Kevin Johnson, he took a seat on the bench for the remainder of the frame.

Fortunately, he returned to the game to start the fourth and played all but three minutes of the final quarter.

Next Up

The Sixers will depart from Los Angeles for Sacramento on Monday in preparation for their Tuesday, 10pm (EST) meeting with the Kings.